Hamas fighters ‘not paid for three months' because of Israeli aid block
Hamas has not paid its fighters for three months due to Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid preventing the group seizing and selling supplies, according to reports.
Members of the al-Qassam brigades, Hamas' military wing, have not received any pay since around February, a source from within the terror group told the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
Families of terrorists killed or captured during fighting with Israel are also reported to have not received their usual remuneration.
Hamas's civil workers were said to have received a reduced salary equivalent of $250 four months ago, which 'sparked resentment among employees'. It is not clear if they have been paid since.
Budgets allocated towards ministries and government agencies were also reported to have been put on hold around the same time.
Israel cut off supplies of humanitarian aid to Gaza in March, some of which Hamas had reportedly been seizing and selling to raise money. Around 100 aid lorries were allowed to reenter the strip on Friday, but this was much reduced from the around 600 a day that were crossing the border before March.
Moumen Al-Natour, a Palestinian lawyer from the Al-Shati camp in central Gaza, told the Wall Street Journal last week that the cash-strapped terror group had 'a big crisis' on its hands.
'They were mainly dependent on humanitarian aid sold in black markets for cash,' he explained.
The renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza has also reportedly targeted Hamas officials involved in distributing cash.
Hamas has 'never experienced such conditions before, whether during the current war or in previous periods' and there is a 'clear administrative vacuum', Asharq Al-Awsat wrote.
On Monday Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney called on Israel to lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid and stop its military operations in Gaza, a statement that was strongly condemned by the Israeli government.
Hundreds of Palestinians were seen in footage posted to social media this week calling for an end to the war and the removal of the group, which has been in power in Gaza for nearly two decades.
The protests appear to have been sparked by claims from a senior Hamas official that the war with Israel was 'eternal', and that Palestinians would 'produce dozens more babies for each martyr'.
'Out! Out! Out! All of Hamas, out!' the protesters chanted, despite the danger of speaking out against the terror group in the war-torn enclave.
In March, a 22-year-old man was tortured to death by armed gunmen after taking part in anti-Hamas demonstrations.
Videos from Khan Younis show young men criticising Hamas for selling their 'blood for a dollar… To those with Hamas, be aware the people of Gaza will dig your grave'.
Gaza-based journalists reportedly received threats after the protests, warning them not to publish any 'negative news that could affect the morale of the people'.
One man, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC: 'The people do not care any more about Hamas's attempts to suppress their voice because they are literally dying from hunger, evacuation, and the bombings.'
Hamas is also reported to have lost much of its influence in the Occupied West Bank, with underfunded terror cells not carrying out attacks on Israeli settlers or troops due to fear of military raids.
Israel continued its new Gaza offensive on Saturday, with the strip's Hamas-run civil defence agency saying at least 15 people were killed by Israeli strikes.
'Suddenly, a missile from an F-16 destroyed the entire house, and all of them were civilians – my sister, her husband and their children,' said Wissam Al-Madhoun outside Khan Younis's Nasser Hospital, where tearful mourners gathered around white-shrouded bodies.
'We found them lying in the street. What did this child do to Netanyahu?' he added.
The Israeli military said it was unable to comment on individual strikes without their 'precise geographical coordinates'.
In a statement, the military said that over the past day the air force had struck more than 100 targets across the territory, including members of 'terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip, military structures, underground routes and additional terrorist infrastructure'.
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