Hamas is using a £500 million war chest to pay the salaries of its civil servants in Gaza, according to a new BBC News investigation.
The report suggests that the terror group stockpiled millions in cash in tunnels beneath the Strip in the run up to the October 7 massacres, reportedly at the behest of its late leader, Yahya Sinwar.
According to the BBC, Hamas has raised funds from large import duties and other taxes on the civilian population, while “sources inside Gaza” revealed that it has been relentlessly stealing humanitarian aid and either selling it to line its coffers or distributing it as a reward to loyalists.
Since October 7, there have been significant taxes on Gazan businesses, with cigarettes reported to be a key revenue driver, as Hamas sells them at 100 times their normal value.
This, as well as the restriction of aid, has led to significant anger amongst ordinary Gazans.
Nisreen Khaled, a widow who looks after her three children following the death of her husband from cancer five years ago, said, “When the hunger worsened, my children were crying not only from pain but also from watching our Hamas-affiliated neighbours receive food parcels and sacks of flour.”
Khaled added, “Are they not the reason for our suffering? Why didn’t they secure food, water, and medicine before launching their 7 October adventure?”
Hamas has reportedly used a secret cash-based system to pay 30,000 civil servants’ salaries, leading to a wage bill of £5.3 million.
The BBC spoke to several Gazan civil servants who said that they had received nearly $300 each in the past week.
Israel regularly targets Hamas salary dispensers, with the aim of eroding Hamas’ governance of Gaza.
The civil servants, including police officers and tax officials, receive encrypted text messages telling them “meet a friend for tea” at a given time and location.
They are then met by a Hamas dispenser, who hands them a sealed envelope containing their salary in cash.
However, the Al-Qassam Brigades – Hamas’ militant units – are reportedly funded through a “separate financial system”, mostly using money from Iran. A senior Muslim Brotherhood official is also quoted saying that 10 per cent of the group’s annual budget was funneled to Hamas.
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