Hamas can build lots of houses - but chooses terror tunnels instead

Hamas has announced that it is continuing to build terror tunnels despite the restrictions on cement being imported into Gaza being earmarked for specific projects.

The group triumphantly reported that it has managed to create a domestic brick manufacturing industry. Its testing found that red bricks, fired in local kilns from clay that is easily available in Gaza, have similar strength properties as the cement that had previously been used to build terror tunnels.

This new development is being hailed by Hamas media as a "big blow" to international efforts to ensure that tunnel materials aren't being diverted to the terror group.

Think about this for a minute. Hamas has come up with a way to build without cement, with bricks that are completely locally manufactured - and it is using this method exclusively for terror.

People use bricks in Sudan and Egypt, so there is no reason at all that Gaza houses cannot be built out of brick. (For that matter, I never understood why wood frame houses are not considered viable for Gaza.)

The thousands of houses that need to be repaired or rebuilt can use the bricks Hamas is firing, today, but instead part of the "unity government" chooses to prioritize rebuilding a terror infrastructure.

Moreover, UNRWA and the many other NGOs in Gaza could have been using their large budgets to create this local industry to alleviate housing problems - and they are not doing that. (UNRWA once had a pilot program to build mud houses that coudl last 100 years. While they were limited to one story they were quite beautiful, but I haven't heard anything about that since 2010.)

Could it be that UNRWA and the other NGOs want to keep Gazans dependent on them? After all, independent Gazans mean less need for UNRWA -  and fewer opportunities for fundraising.