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Saturday, July 03, 2010

Huge Hamas corruption reported

The anti-Hamas news service, Palestine Press Agency, publishes details of a supposedly confidential internal Hamas report about the endemic corruption that Hamas members and subsidiaries are spreading throughout Gaza.

A number of details are given:

- Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has been going on a real-estate buying spree, buying up property and businesses through his children.

- Another of Haniyeh son was caught at the Rafah border trying to smuggle in millions of dollars.

- A number of real-estate scams are detailed, such as selling government land to Hamas members only.

- A Hamas major has stolen a quarter of a million dollars worth of drugs and sold them.

- Another member extorted money from people who went on Hajj last year.

- Members of the Qassam Brigades are getting double salaries, both from that terror group and from Hamas itself.

- Also revealed is that a number of Hamas investments in Gulf real estate, meant to help cash flow, have gone bad,  losing tens of millions of dollars. As a result of the cash crisis, Hamas has resorted to stealing money from banks.

- There may also be infighting within Hamas, as one episode is detailed where a leader of the Al Qassam Brigades broke into Ismail Haniyeh's office to take hundreds of thousands of dollars given to him by George Galloway earlier this year!