After nearly two years of war with the Israel In Gaza, its military dynamics Hamas It has been seriously weakened and its political leadership is under intense pressure.
However, throughout the war with Israel, Hamas managed to continue using a secret cash payment system to pay wages 30,000 civil servantstotaling $ 7 million.
According to the BBC, three civil servants confirmed that they received almost $ 300 each week from the Hamas organization.
The three employees allegedly belonging to tens of thousands Still employees who continued to receive a minimum of up to 20% from the regular salary they received before the war, every 10 weeks.
In the midst of the rapid increase in inflation, the symbolic salary – a part of the total amount – causes increasing dissatisfaction between the organization’s faithful.
Serious food deficiency – For which relief organizations blame Israeli restrictions – and increasing cases malnutrition continues in Gazawhere one kilo of flour costs in recent weeks up to $ 80 – the highest amount ever recorded.
Without a functional banking system in Gaza, even salary is complex and, in some cases, dangerous. Israel is regularly identifying and targeting Hamas wage distributors, seeking to disrupt the organization’s ability to rule.
Employees, from police to tax officials, often receive a encrypted message On their phones or phones of their wives, in which they are given a directive to go to a specific point at a specific time to “meet a friend for teaยป.
At the meeting point, the employee is approached by a man – or occasionally a woman – who discreetly delivers a sealed folder containing the money and then disappears without further interaction.
An employee of the Hamas Ministry of Religious Affairs described the dangers of receipt of his salary.
‘Every time I go to pick up my salary, I say goodbye to my wife and children. I know I may not be back, “he said. “In many cases, Israeli attacks have hit the wage distribution points. I I survived From an attack aimed at a busy market in the city of Gaza. “
A teacher employed by the Hamas government and the only support of a family of six. “I received 1,000 Sekel (about $ 300) in worn banknotes – no trader accepted them. Only 200 Sekel were usable – the rest, I honestly don’t know what to do, “he told the BBC.
“After two and a half months of hunger, they pay us with torn banknotes. Often have to go to aid distribution points in the hope of finding a little bit flour to feed my children. Sometimes I manage to get a little home, but most of the time I fail, “he added.
In March, the Israeli army announced that it killed Hamas’s head of finances, Ismail Barhumin a raid at Nasser Hospital in Han Younes. He was accused of channeling funds to Hamas’s military arm.
It remains unclear how Hamas has been able to continue to finance the payment of wages, given the destruction of much of its administrative and economic infrastructure.
A Hamas senior employee who held high positions and is familiar with the organization’s economic activities, said the organization had stored approximately $ 700 million in cash and hundreds of millions of Shekel In underground tunnels before the organization’s attack on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, which triggered the devastating Israeli military campaign.
These were allegedly supervised by Hamas leader Yaja Sinuar and his brother Mohammed, who have been killed by the Israeli forces since then.
Anger for the reward of Hamas supporters
Hamas historically based on funding from heavy quotes fee and taxes imposed on the gauze population, as well as in the reception of millions of dollars of support from the Qatar.
Kasam Brigades, Hamas’s military arm that operates through a separate financial system, is mainly funded by the Iran.
A senior official of her Muslim Brotherhoodone of the most influential Islamic organizations in the world, based in Egypt, said that about 10% of the budget They were also made available to Hamas.
In order to earn revenue during the war, Hamas continued to impose taxes on traders and sold large quantities of cigarettes at very high prices, up to 100 times up from their original value. Before the war, a pack of 20 cigarettes cost $ 5, and now its price has exceeded $ 170.
In addition to cash payments, Hamas has distributed food packages to its members and their families through extraordinary needwhose leadership often changes due to repetitive Israeli attacks.
This has triggered the rage of the public, with many Gaza residents accusing Hamas of distributing help only to her supporters and excluding the wider population.
Israel has accused Hamas that stole The help that arrived in Gaza during the truce earlier this year, something that Hamas denies. However, sources of the BBC in Gaza have reported that significant amounts of help were seized by Hamas during this period.