Hamas Tightens Ban On Travel From Gaza
Excerpt:
The restriction on the Palestinians' right to freedom of movement is not exclusively Israeli-imposed however. The Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip has imposed further restrictions on Palestinians willing to travel via the Erez crossing, and, has recently banned several Palestinians from travel via the Israeli checkpoint.
Most recently, on Sunday, May 12, members of the Hamas government's Internal Security services stationed at the Erez crossing have prevented two Palestinian human rights workers from travel to the West Bank. The two attorneys, Eyad al-Alami and Mohammed Bseiso, who work with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza were leaving for the West Bank to follow up on several legal cases which included, among other things, victims of Israeli attacks, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and referral of Palestinian patients to hospitals outside the Gaza Strip.
In a news release published on its website, PCHR described the incident: "At approximately 11:00 on Sunday, May 12, 2013, Eyad al-Alami and Mohammed Bseiso arrived at the checkpoint of the Ministry of Interior near Beit Hanoun crossing, in the northern Gaza Strip, and handed their ID cards to an officer in order to complete the procedures of traveling to the West Bank. … The aforementioned officer asked the PCHR’s staff members to wait. After approximately half an hour, he told them that they were prevented from traveling and that they had to refer to the Ministry of Interior in Gaza for obtaining a travel permit."
In another incident, on March 22, Hamas Internal Security banned Fatah official Amal Hammad, who was traveling to Ramallah to attend a Fatah central committee meeting, from traveling via the Israeli checkpoint.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/hamas-gaza-erez-crossing-travel-ban.html#ixzz2TzHn9iWc
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