As PA tightens financial noose on Hamas, citizens will suffer

Upcoming sanctions on money transfer firms in the Gaza Strip — designed by the Palestinian Authority to weaken Hamas — will ultimately harm cash-strapped families and individuals.
A Palestinian government employee receives a portion her his overdue salary at a post office in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 8, 2018, after the Hamas-run finance ministry had announced that the money would be distributed over the two days, with employees receiving 50 percent of their salaries. - Employees of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip began collecting their salaries for a second month on December 7, after Qatar pumped more money into the territory with Israel's blessings. The
A Palestinian government employee receives a portion of her overdue salary at a post office, Rafah, Gaza Strip, Dec. 8, 2018. - SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images
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Adnan Abu Amer
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The Palestinian Authority (PA) intends to impose new sanctions on Hamas involving money transfer companies in the Gaza Strip. Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar revealed Jan. 29 that the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) in Ramallah, the West Bank, told its licensed money transfer companies that the PMA plans to end or reduce its work in Gaza by the end of February.

The PA has long pressured Hamas to give up the movement's control of the Gaza Strip. Reconciliation efforts have failed.

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