Israel cuts Gaza aid. Hamas running out of money. The world doesn't see any relationship between the two. ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Israel cuts Gaza aid. Hamas running out of money. The world doesn't see any relationship between the two.

Hamas is facing a new problem in Gaza: coming up with the cash it needs to pay its rank and file.

Israel last month cut off supplies of humanitarian goods to the enclave, some of which Hamas had been seizing and selling to raise funds, according to Arab, Israeli and Western officials. Its renewed offensive has targeted and killed Hamas officials who played important roles in distributing cash to cadres and sent others into hiding, Arab intelligence officials said.

Salary payments to many Gaza government employees have ceased, while many senior Hamas fighters and political staff began receiving only about half of their pay midway through last month’s Ramadan holy period, the intelligence officials said. Rank-and-file Hamas fighters’ pay had been averaging around $200 to $300 a month, they said.

The shortfalls are creating hardship across Hamas’s ranks in Gaza’s cash economy and signal a deepening organizational dysfunction in the militant group as it also contends with a more aggressive Israeli military strategy.

Once the war started, Israel tightly limited the transfer of physical cash into Gaza, forcing U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas to find ways around the restrictions. Early on, the group was involved in taking $180 million from branches of the Bank of Palestine and other institutions, current and former Palestinian officials said.

Hamas used the flow of humanitarian and commercial goods to build new income streams, according to Arab, Israeli and Western officials. This has included charging taxes on merchants, collecting customs on trucks at checkpoints, and commandeering goods for resale. Hamas also has used overseas cash to buy humanitarian goods that are then sold in Gaza and turned back into cash, the officials said.

For well over a year, Hamas managed to fund its activities. But when aid dries up, it loses that ability.

Gee, you think the two may be related?

This is not the first time we have seen a relationship between aid and Hamas funding its activities. When Israel cut off all aid in the first weeks of the war, Hamas felt the pressure of losing that income stream and this may have been one factor in Hamas accepting the first ceasefire.

Under the laws of armed conflict, even food and medical supplies can be blocked if they are being used the way Hamas is using them. The Geneva Conventions Article 23 says:

Article 23 - Consignment of medical supplies, food and clothing
Each High Contracting Party shall allow the free passage of all consignments of medical and hospital stores and objects necessary for religious worship intended only for civilians of another High Contracting Party, even if the latter is its adversary. It shall likewise permit the free passage of all consignments of essential foodstuffs, clothing and tonics intended for children under fifteen, expectant mothers and maternity cases.

The obligation of a High Contracting Party to allow the free passage of the consignments indicated in the preceding paragraph is subject to the condition that this Party is satisfied that there are no serious reasons for fearing:

(a) that the consignments may be diverted from their destination,
(b) that the control may not be effective, or
(c) that a definite advantage may accrue to the military efforts or economy of the enemy through the substitution of the above-mentioned consignments for goods which would otherwise be provided or produced by the enemy or through the release of such material, services or facilities as would otherwise be required for the production of such goods.

Everyone knew Hamas used aid to fund its operations way before the war.

Israel has proposed methods of bringing in aid to bypass Hamas completely. Hamas strongly protested the idea. But the international aid agencies have not shown support for any plan that bypasses Hamas, either. And the media has not reported on Israel's plan, which paints Israel as the ones who are blocking aid and Hamas as the ones who want to help Gazans.

If Hamas is using the aid to fund its terrorism, Israel has every moral and legal right to stop that aid and propose alternatives. The lack of reporting on real international law, Israel's attempts to help innocent Gazans and Hamas' diversion of aid for its own purposes cannot be explained by anything but deep, systemic bias against Israel.