Palestinians rely on banks and money exchange offices for their financial transactions — but so do Palestinian factions abroad and their members in the territories. Therefore, the Palestinian Authority (PA) sometimes imposes strict policies on the offices, fearing money will reach Hamas-affiliated figures and institutions.

On March 28, Quds Net News Agency quoted what it said were well-informed Palestinian political sources as saying security forces have disrupted large money transfers worth millions of dollars to personal accounts and Palestinian institutions. The money, the sources said, was to fund activities against the PA. The security forces have tightened their auditing of these undisclosed accounts and have been scrutinizing banks to prevent money transfers to anti-PA parties.

These actions are related to the crisis in May, when numerous charities were left without support after Palestinian banks seized the groups' money transfers on the charge that they were affiliated with Hamas.

Mohammad al-Attal, head of the Student Friends Association in the Gaza Strip, told Al-Monitor recently that “some banks have been refusing to process money transfers from donors to charities since early 2016."