Hamas supporters
Hamas supportersAbed Rahim Khatib/Flash 90

A senior official in Hamas on Saturday called on Palestinian Arabs to “resolve the suffering of Gazans” by forming a national unity government comprising all Palestinian factions, the Ma’an news agency reported.

Ismail al-Ashraq, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that Hamas no longer wanted the technocratic government composed of politically-independent members following that the "failure" of that government in ending Palestinian division.

He reiterated Hamas' call for elections, the report said.

Al-Ashraq's comments came a week after a government minister announced that the unity government had cut off contact with Hamas following a high-profile visit to Gaza that ended in disarray on April 20.

The visit had been aimed at resolving an employee dispute between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority and Hamas, but the delegation of eight ministers alleged that Hamas had prevented them from leaving them the hotel or meeting with anyone.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has since sought to brush off claims that the unity government is in crisis, denying that a stalemate had been reached on the employee dispute.

Hamas and Fatah have continued to quarrel even after signing a unity pact last year in an attempt to bury the hatchet after years of bitter and bloody rivalry.

Issues of contention include payments of salaries to Hamas employees in Gaza.

Recently, an explosive was detonated in western Gaza City right by Abbas's former home, which was turned into Palestinian Cabinet headquarters after the unity deal between Hamas and the PA last April.

A day later, two more explosions rocked Gaza, with one going off right next to UNRWA offices - around three meters from the door according to UNRWA workers.

There has been a wave of internal violence between the two arch-rivals, unity deal notwithstanding, as Fatah and Hamas officials in Gaza, Judea and Samaria have long been targeted in mysterious assassination attempts.

Those attempts included a spate of shootings in Gaza in February that threatened to slide the region into open internal warfare.