Gazans line up outside banks as cash runs out

from the Miami Herald

Cash crunch going on in Palestine. Tens of thousands of people withdrew money from banks today. - Kale

by IBRAHIM BARZAK

Israel promised to transfer more money to Gaza on Tuesday.

But the shortage highlighted the daily hardships still faced by the coastal strip's 1.4 million people despite a June cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that has brought some badly needed relief.

The delicate truce suffered a setback Monday when unidentified Gaza militants fired a rocket into Israel, hitting an open area in the town of Sderot but causing no casualties, Israeli police said.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered crossings into Gaza closed Tuesday in response to the attack, for which no armed group immediately claimed responsibility. Militants have violated the cease-fire several times since it went into effect.

After Hamas violently seized power in Gaza in June 2007, Israel began blockading the territory in hopes of pressuring the militant group to halt rocket fire and of undermining its rule. The blockade has been loosened since the truce began, but widespread shortages persist.

Lacking a currency of their own, Gazans use Israeli shekels. But with little new Israeli money entering Gaza, the bank notes in circulation are either being hoarded or have been damaged from overuse.

Bank tellers turned people away Monday, and many automatic teller machines were not working.

"I've been trying to withdraw my salary since yesterday morning. I don't have a shekel in my pocket," said Bassam, a 23-year-old civil servant, who was waiting outside a bank in Gaza City.

He declined to give his family name because his salary is paid by Hamas' rival, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and he did not want to be publicly identified as taking money from Abbas' government.

Two young men standing beside him said they had the same problem.

Mohammed Ayyad, a spokesman for the Abbas government's Palestinian Monetary Authority, said officials were in contact with Gaza banks to determine how much cash each needed.

Saying it was responding to a request from Abbas' government, Israel said it would send $20 million worth of shekels to Gaza from Palestinian funds it holds from collecting taxes, which will be used to pay civil servant salaries. Officials said the cash would be transferred Tuesday.

Link to full article. May expire in future.