the criminal law to same-sex activity and gender variance in each of the territories. In 2013, a gay Palestinian man told reporters that "local Palestinian Authority police are aware and keep files on him and other homosexuals, blackmailing them into working as spies and informants." He reported stories "of guys being called at random and told to come into [Palestinian Authority] police stations, with threats their families would be told about their sexuality if they didn't show up." The same report noted that Israeli intelligence offered another gay Palestinian man free entry into Israel on an ongoing basis to visit his Israeli boyfriend if he provided "the names of the organizers, the religious people in the villages and names of children throwing stones at Israeli military jeeps." The report noted that Mossad had been tracking his location through his cell phone. The man did not cooperate despite fear that the Israelis would reveal his sexuality to his family and community, who would reject him. It is not reported if anything subsequently was disclosed. In February 2016, the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas (classified as a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, the EU, Canada, Israel, Japan and USA) which rules Gaza executed Mahmoud Ishtiwi - one of the group's leading commanders - under allegations of gay sex and theft. Ishtiwi left two wives and three children. In August 2019, the Palestinian Authority announced that LGBT groups were forbidden to meet in the West Bank on the grounds that they are "harmful to the higher values and ideals of Palestinian society". This was in response to a planned conference in Nablus by Al-Qaws, a Palestinian LGBT group. The ban was later withdrawn by the end of the month following backlash. Marriage and family Gay Palestinians frequently seek refuge in Israel fearing for their lives, especially fearing death from members of their own families. "According to lawyer Shaul Gannon, from the Israeli LGBT organization The Aguda – Israel's LGBT Task Force, around 2,000 Palestinian homosexuals live in Tel Aviv at any one time." Media and cultural references Several Israeli films and or television programs have dealt with the issue of LGBT Palestinians, often having relationships with LGBT Israelis. However, none of these films have been directed by LGBT Palestinians. Hide and Seek (1980) - An Israeli drama film addressing themes of homosexuality between an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Arab;