KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip — Banks in the Gaza Strip have refused to publicly disclose the reason behind their policy of not accepting money transfers sent from abroad to charitable and Islamic associations in Gaza. However, since the blockade on Hamas began in 2006, these banks have been afraid of the potential US sanctions they could incur if accused of providing financial facilities for Hamas, which is on the US list of terrorist organizations. In 2013, a US court imposed sanctions on the Arab Bank on charges of providing banking services to Hamas.

Recently, a number of protests against these policies were organized by Islamic charities and held in front of the Bank of Palestine in the Gaza Strip.

In the first protest, held on May 14, widow Mona al-Shaar stood alongside dozens of other widowed mothers and mothers of those with disabilities in front of the Bank of Palestine in central Khan Yunis. Their protest was directed against the bank’s policy of freezing the accounts of some charitable organizations operating in Gaza that were transfering monthly financial aid to those whose fathers had died from charities outside Palestine. This policy had lost Shaar the only source of funding for the four children she had raised alone since her husband died four years ago.

During the protest, one of the widows provided Al-Monitor with a statement issued in the name of “Widowed mothers, mothers of those with disabilities and needy families in Gaza,” a yet-unregistered organization including members of the protesting factions. The statement noted, “The humanitarian associations provided for orphans, the disabled and families that had lost their breadwinners. They supported them for decades, making sure they did not have to beg or request charity.”