Deposed Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh accused the Bush administration of maintaining the "siege imposed on...Gaza" by banning a Gaza-based charity. The United States declared the al-Salah Association part of the outlawed Hamas terrorist party, resulting in its bank accounts being frozen by banks in the PA.
Al Salah officials argued that they distribute funds to citizens regardless of their political affiliation, but the American government declared that Hamas uses the charity "to finance its terrorist agenda."