Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah vowed that his government will cooperate with the national factions to work out socio-economic crises rocking the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Chairing his first cabinet meeting in Gaza in a move towards national reconciliation, al-Hamdallah urged the international community to pressure the Israeli occupation to lift the tough siege on Gaza and encourage entrepreneurs to invest in the enclave.

Al-Hamdallah pledged that his government will make every possible effort to disentangle underway crises, as had been agreed upon in the Cairo agreement.

He added that national reconciliation will encourage donor parties to fulfill their pledges.

Al-Hamdallah stressed that the Palestinian government will stand on guard to any attempt to rope in the Palestinian cause in regional and international strife.

Al-Hamdallah arrived in Gaza on Monday for his first visit in years, saying the Palestinian Authority (PA) would assume control of the Strip after a decade of factional strife.

Al-Hamdallah crossed the border with dozens of ministers and officials from the West Bank-based PA into the coastal enclave at around noon.

He was welcomed by thousands of Gazans, with hopes that this reconciliation plan can avoid the problems that wrecked several previous attempts.

For Gaza’s two million residents, the hope is to see an improvement in their miserable living conditions in the overcrowded and impoverished territory.

Battered by three Israeli wars since 2008, Gaza is under Israeli and Egyptian blockade and suffers from severe water and electricity shortages, along with an economic slump and unemployment of more than 40 per cent.