GAZA CITY — The Hamas regime continues to tighten applications of Islamic observance in the Gaza Strip.   

In 2009, Hamas banned the display of women's underwear in store windows, Middle East Newsline reported. Other regulations prohibited men from frequenting the same beaches as women.

Palestinian sources said the Hamas measures were meant to defuse rising criticism by Al Qaida-aligned groups. Some of the groups have been waging an insurgency campaign against the regime.

Over the last few months, Hamas has organized vice units to enforce the Islamic directives. The sources said the new laws have often been ignored.

"This is a political issue and depends on the strength of the opposition," the source said.

A Gaza advocacy rights group has asserted that Hamas was preventing women from inheriting property from their families in the Gaza Strip. The Women's Affairs Center said 88 percent of those polled reported being denied their inheritance, with the Hamas government refusing to address their rights.

Hamas has followed Islamic law that stipulates that men should inherit double that of their sisters or other women family members.

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