Israeli Security figures recently requested that Israeli commercial banks refrain from dealing with the Palestinian Aqsa Islamic Bank.
Israeli security bodies fear that the Palestinian bank is involved with the Hamas, claiming that part of its profits are used to finance activities of the Islamic Jihad, a report by Yediot Aharonot.
Aqsa Bank administration refuted the accusations, and stated that the Bank was under direct supervisioin of the Palestinian Monetary Authority.
Aqsa Bank is a public shareholding institution, with the Jordanian Islamic Bank and Dala Al-Baraka Islamic group as the main shareholders. Other Palestinian institutions and private individuals in the West Bank and Gaza Strip also have a partial stake in the bank.
Recently, there has been significant growth in the banking sector in the Palestinian territories, with the opening of 23 banks including 107 branches, and total capital reaching $305 billion.—(Albawaba-MEBG)
