Hamas police hold up bank.....

I guess they'll have to blame Israel....

Hamas police raided a Gaza bank and seized 16,000 dollars on Sunday after the lender refused to obey a court order to release the funds, a bank official said.

The operation was part of a growing feud between the territory's Hamas rulers and monetary authorities in the West Bank who refuse to deal with the Islamist movement, which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by the West.

"The police broke into the main branch of the Islamic Bank this afternoon and implemented a court order to take more than 16,000 dollars (13,000 euros) by force," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"The bank has decided to close its branch in Gaza and suspend operations in protest," he added.

The official said the funds, belonging to a local educational association, had been frozen by the Palestine Monetary Authority.

The bank had refused to comply with the court order because the monetary authority forbids it from dealing with the Hamas-run government, largely because of a Western ban on handling funds linked to designated terror groups.