RAMALLAH — Labor unrest has threatened to destabilize the rival Palestinian regimes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas regime have been battling strikes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The strikes included physicians and teachers, who have demanded higher wages and better conditions.

Teachers and physicians in the Gaza Strip have been on strike throughout September. The Hamas regime has arrested union leaders and broken up demonstrations in Gaza City.

Officials said strikes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank reflect the rivalry between Fatah, which controls the PA, and Hamas. Hamas controls the teachers union in the West Bank while Fatah dominates labor organizations in the Gaza Strip.

The labor strike in the Gaza Strip has also increased tension between Hamas and the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad. Jihad has endorsed the strikes in what has sparked threats of a regime crackdown.

Hamas government secretary-general Walid Al Awad acknowledged that the regime was pressing strikers to return to work. Al Awad, who announced housing and resort development in the Gaza Strip, said teachers or other civil servants who fail to receive salaries from the PA would be paid by Hamas.

"We have largely succeeded in thwarting the strike and stripping it of its content," Al Awad said on Sept. 7.

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