RAMALLAH, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian consensus government on Tuesday started restructuring its ministries and departments in the Gaza Strip as part of an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal reached last week.
The announcement was made in an official statement issued after Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah chaired a weekly meeting of his cabinet in the West Bank.
It said that specialized committees in the government's establishments, crossing points and security organs in the Gaza Strip have started functioning.
"The government has a comprehensive plan to hand over all its ministries in the Gaza Strip," said the official government's statement, adding that starting from next week, cabinet meetings will be held in both Gaza and the West Bank.
On Monday, a Palestinian governmental committee started the procedures of handing over the crossing points in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with the last agreement signed in Cairo last week.
Last Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party and Islamic Hamas movement signed a reconciliation agreement to start the process of reconciliation to end a decade-long internal Palestinian division.
According to the agreement, Hamas, which has been ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007, agreed to hand over control of the coastal enclave to the consensus government and to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
The two parties agreed that by December 1, the PNA would practically have a full control of all the ministries, departments, security and crossing points, either with Israel or with Egypt.
On Monday night, Abbas chaired a meeting of the executive committee for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to discuss the last reconciliation deal reached in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas.
An official statement issued after the meeting said the PLO supports the reconciliation agreement and called on the two parties to fully implement it until the complete end of the internal division.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Tuesday the Israeli government's decision to build 31 housing units in the city of Hebron in southern West Bank.
In an official statement emailed to reporters, the ministry slammed the move as settlers' aggression on the Palestinians.
"Settlement activities increase the Israeli security measures, that are taken against the Palestinians in the West Bank, mainly an increase of roadblocks and a destruction to their daily life and their properties," said the statement.
