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| Aid Agencies in Gaza Protest New Exit Rules | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| GAZA CITY — About two dozen international aid agencies that operate in Gaza have suspended travel by their local employees to Israel and the West Bank to protest new exit permit requirements imposed by the Hamas-led government. | GAZA CITY — About two dozen international aid agencies that operate in Gaza have suspended travel by their local employees to Israel and the West Bank to protest new exit permit requirements imposed by the Hamas-led government. |
| Leaders of several nongovernmental organizations said the permit requirements, announced April 4, were an effort by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, to collect information about their groups through application forms and interviews. Hamas has also sought salary information for the local employees to collect income tax, and it wants to tax vendors providing materials to internationally financed projects in Gaza, which the aid agencies oppose. | Leaders of several nongovernmental organizations said the permit requirements, announced April 4, were an effort by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, to collect information about their groups through application forms and interviews. Hamas has also sought salary information for the local employees to collect income tax, and it wants to tax vendors providing materials to internationally financed projects in Gaza, which the aid agencies oppose. |
| A representative of a group of 25 agencies, including some affiliated with the United Nations, said Hamas sent forms “three times bigger” than the previous ones, seeking information “that they have no business to know.” He spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he did not want to call attention to his agency. | A representative of a group of 25 agencies, including some affiliated with the United Nations, said Hamas sent forms “three times bigger” than the previous ones, seeking information “that they have no business to know.” He spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he did not want to call attention to his agency. |
| But Tharwat al-Bik, the director of nongovernmental organizations in Hamas’s Ministry of Interior, said the government was “implementing the law, which doesn’t put any public organization above it.” He cited “political motivations” as the reason the agencies refused to cooperate with Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 but is considered a terrorist group by the United States and Israel. | But Tharwat al-Bik, the director of nongovernmental organizations in Hamas’s Ministry of Interior, said the government was “implementing the law, which doesn’t put any public organization above it.” He cited “political motivations” as the reason the agencies refused to cooperate with Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 but is considered a terrorist group by the United States and Israel. |
| A similar issue erupted in 2011, when the State Department threatened to withdraw $100 million in spending on health care and other projects in Gaza after Hamas sought to audit American-financed charities here. Hamas eventually decided to audit only non-American groups; Mr. Bik said one that had refused to open its books, the International Medical Corps, had a month to submit to the requirements or be barred from Gaza. Local employees of international groups are among the few Gaza residents who routinely travel into Israel. Several hundred businessmen and patients with referrals to hospitals in Israel or the West Bank are also allowed to leave. | A similar issue erupted in 2011, when the State Department threatened to withdraw $100 million in spending on health care and other projects in Gaza after Hamas sought to audit American-financed charities here. Hamas eventually decided to audit only non-American groups; Mr. Bik said one that had refused to open its books, the International Medical Corps, had a month to submit to the requirements or be barred from Gaza. Local employees of international groups are among the few Gaza residents who routinely travel into Israel. Several hundred businessmen and patients with referrals to hospitals in Israel or the West Bank are also allowed to leave. |