Why Hamas closed down Iranian charity in Gaza
The Gaza Interior Ministry’s decision to shut down an Iranian-affiliated charity association in the Gaza Strip raised questions on whether this move will affect the fragile and fluctuating ties between Hamas and Iran.
Relations between Hamas and Iran are still unstable and fluctuating between improvement and deterioration. But the Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip where Hamas dominates shut down an Iranian charity a few days ago. This might open a new page in relations, and nobody knows where it might lead.
The Ministry of Interior in Gaza decided on March 11 to shut down Al-Bakyat El-Salehat Society, which is affiliated with Al-Sabireen Movement and headed by Shiite Hisham Salem.
Iyad al-Bazm, Ministry of Interior spokesperson in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, “The Ministry of Interior decided to shut down the charity because it violated the law of charities [2000 NGO Law No. 1] and practiced political activities. The ministry had already notified it to rectify its legal status and stop its political activities in December 2015, but the charity did not abide by that.”
Al-Bakyat El-Salehat Society was established in Gaza in 2004 following an initiative from several civil society leaders whose names are not mentioned on its website. Its field of work focused on offering humanitarian aid and financial help to targeted groups, mainly the families of martyrs, the wounded, detainees, the deprived poor and orphans. It also provided school necessities, food baskets, winter equipment and university tuitions.
