Travel between the Gaza Strip and the outside world has for the past several years been the province of only a few privileged people, well connected enough to secure Israeli permission to leave the strip to travel to Israel or the occupied West Bank.
Navigating the Israeli system to secure permission to leave is no longer enough, however, as Hamas has announced it will ban all travel to Israel or the West Bank that is not previously authorized by the Hamas Interior Ministry.
Since Israel’s own system is fraught with delays and last-minute approvals, getting timely Hamas approval on top of that is going to be difficult, and entirely impractical for people seeking emergency trips abroad for medical treatment or family emergencies.
Businessmen say that their understanding is that the new requirement won’t apply to “regular travelers,” nor apparently will it apply to anyone leaving by way of Egypt. Hamas has previously restricted travel of Fatah members in the Gaza Strip, and in late 2011 attempted a similar “exit visa” program, which it scrapped in the face of popular protests.
What is the reasoning behind this? No one seems to know. This sounds eerily reminiscent of Stalin's order for all civilians to remain in Stalingrad before and during the meatgrinder battle over that unfortunate city. One has to wonder if Hamas isn't cooking up some scheme to invite Israeli retribution (lopsided, of course) to score publicity points. Or maybe they're honestly expecting statehood any day now and want to have some population remaining when they raise the flag.
Comments on Ditz's reporting style and bias are apparently considered off topic and are not posted onto the page, so I will address Saladin's concern directly. Hamas did gain its position of authority by election and it, and Gaza's people, face foes from within and without. (Including agents provocateurs who might wish to invite Israeli 'retribution' for whatever purposes). I believe there have been trials and executions. Whatever the reasons in this particular case, the security concerns in Gaza would lead even a fully-fledged democracy to place restrictions on international movements. I more or less pointed this out in my earlier comment here, which was not accepted.