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Hamas-Appointed Court Fines Gaza Banks
(New York Times) Fares Akram and Ethan Bronner - In what could be the first of many such decisions, a Hamas-appointed court this week ordered two major banks in Gaza to pay tens of millions of dollars in back fees and fines for refusing to accept the taxing power of the Hamas government, rather than its West-Bank-based rival, the Palestinian Authority. Bank officials, who boycotted the judicial hearings, said the decision might force them to shut down, further reducing access to money in Gaza. The ruling comes just before a planned meeting on a unity government between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshal, the political leader of Hamas. There are nine banks in Gaza, and all of them, along with companies that import fuel and electricity and operate cellphones, may face similar rulings.