Hamas is facing a severe financial crisis after Israel cut off a key revenue stream – humanitarian aid the group had been seizing and selling on the black market.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Hamas is experiencing major financial challenges after some 18 months of war, leading to reduced salaries for senior members of the terror group and a struggle to continue paying its operatives.
Israel’s suspension of humanitarian aid into the Strip – which Hamas regularly seized and sold to Gazans at exorbitant prices – has ended a significant source of cash for the terror organization, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
“There is a big crisis in Hamas in terms of getting the money,” Moumen Al-Natour, an attorney from central Gaza involved in a political movement challenging Hamas rule, told the Journal.
Hamas was “mainly dependent on humanitarian aid sold in black markets for cash,” Al-Natour added.
American, Arab and Western officials told the outlet that Hamas’ finances have been crippled by Israeli assassinations of key figures within the terror group responsible for fiscal matters, along with the loss of revenue stemming from the sale of humanitarian aid.
Hamas government employees are no longer being paid, politicians and other high-profile individuals affiliated with the group are receiving 50 percent of their normal salaries, and its fighters on the ground are being paid just $200 to $300 a month.
The terror group’s ability to make the payments to its fighters has also been disrupted by increased Israeli military efforts in the Strip.“Even if they sit on large amounts of cash, their ability to distribute it would be very limited right now,” said Eyal Ofer, an open-source researcher of Gaza’s economy, told the Journal.
Previously, Hamas would send couriers to deliver salaries in person or establish a central location where fighters would come to collect their pay.
Because Israeli surveillance has intensified in recent weeks, “those two things would grab attention” and potentially create targets for the IDF, Ofer said.
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