Is the PA denying Gazans passports?
Palestinians in Gaza are wary of a potential closure of the Bar Association, acting in its capacity as Foreign Ministry, in light of its recent controversy with the State Audit & Administrative Control Bureau.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian police in Gaza, accompanied by the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB), raided the headquarters of the Palestinian Bar Association on March 16 as a result of disagreements between the parties about the bar’s members’ financial and administrative records. The raid caused the association to suspend its work that day in all courts and institutions and to call in lawyers to its headquarters to defend itself against the police. The following day, the bar staged a sit-in in front of its headquarters.
On March 20, media outlets quoted sources at the Interior Ministry in Ramallah as saying that as a result of the police raid, requests for passports using powers of attorney authenticated by the bar in Gaza would be denied. The bar has been handling many passport issues on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, with which Hamas has been in conflict for years.
Al-Monitor contacted a number of officials at the ministry, but they refused to comment on the matter.
The Interior Ministry in Gaza, run by Hamas, justified the raid of the bar’s headquarters in a March 16 statement citing the bar’s alleged refusal to deal or cooperate with the SAACB for more than four months. Iyad al-Bazm, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Gaza, also issued a statement the same day, saying, “The SAACB’s team was attacked by some members of the bar. Several national and Islamic figures and forces looked into the bar’s lack of cooperation. The matter was settled, and the bar handed the SAACB part of the requested statements and the remaining parts will be submitted within a few days.”
