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.
