GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hundreds of residents in the Gaza Strip lined up in front of banks April 10, the day before the Palestinian Authority Social Affairs Ministry in Ramallah began disbursing welfare payments to poor families. 

The payments — 150 Israeli shekels ($41) per family member — are disbursed to poor families without an income every three months. People who expect to receive these payments must check with the tax office to ensure their names do not appear on a tax roll; in April, 638 families in Gaza discovered that their payments had been denied as a result of the updating of tax records.

Adel Abu Mustafa, a father of five from Khan Yunis, can no longer work because of severe burns covering his entire body as a result of an accident involving a gas lantern. Abu Mustafa waited in line from 11 p.m. April 10 until 10 a.m. April 11 only to find out that his payments had been cut off.

Abu Mustafa had opened a small shop selling vegetables with a $2,000 grant from Oxfam, but less than six months later he ran out of funds to continue operating the shop. His tax record, however, is still listed at the Labor Ministry, despite many requests he sent to cancel it.