149 In spite of the decision issued by the Palestinian President on 25/08/.2008 entrusting the authorities in the West Bank Government, with taking the necessary administrative procedures for the resumption of issuing passports in the Gaza Strip, it was not implemented. Citizens in the Gaza Strip are still suffering due to the continued running out of passports from November 2008 until now. According to information ICHR obtained from officials at the Interior Ministry in Gaza, the Ministry of the Interior in the West Bank does not send passports for Gaza citizens, which results in the denial of their right to travel and movement. This is in addition to the urgent need for special cases, including cases of those seeking medical treatment abroad, and university students who are studying outside the country. In addition there is the need for thousands of people who have expired passports to have them renewed. According to statistics released by the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, (10) patients died as a result of their inability to obtain passports for medical treatment outside Gaza. Also (320) students could not attend their universities outside Gaza, due to their inability to obtain passports during the enrollment and registration period.188 B‐ Depriving Citizens of Passports due to the “Safety Security” Requirement During 2010, ICHR received dozens of complaints pertaining to the refusal of the Ministry of the Interior in the West Bank to enable citizens to obtain their own passports. The reason for this prohibition was that citizens did not obtain security approval from the General Intelligence Service. Examples include a complaint received by ICHR on 20/04/2010 from Akram Fayez Shaqoura, 31, from Jabalya. He reported that he was prevented from obtaining a passport from the Interior Ministry in Ramallah, through Hanif Office in Gaza on 03/04/2010. He claims according to his testimony that the passport was suspended for not passing the security clearance from the General Intelligence Service. 188 See the legal memorandum on the prevention of sending the passports, issued by the Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip from 2010 to 2011. 2.