Hamas fighters ‘not paid for three months' because of Israeli aid block
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 caused 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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Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel's left and right are both making Jewish state a global pariah
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Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount, led prayers there — in violation of the status quo that forbids public Jewish prayer — and said the following: 'I say this precisely from here - from the Temple Mount, where we've proven sovereignty is possible - that a clear message must be sent: The entire Gaza Strip must be conquered, sovereignty declared, every Hamas member taken down, and voluntary emigration promoted. Only then will we return the hostages and win the war.' The furious reaction from Jordan and Saudi Arabia quickly followed. As did this clarification from the Prime Minister's Office: 'Israel's policy of preserving the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed, nor will it change.' Another predictable part of the ritual followed as well: people asking themselves, or their friends, why Ben-Gvir doesn't just keep quiet already, why Netanyahu doesn't muzzle him, and whether they both don't realize the damage these comments cause to Israel's standing internationally. Words that harm Israel's image Ben-Gvir is not the only far-right minister whose careless words irreparably harm Israel's image. Just last week, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, responding to an interviewer who noted Israel was racing toward a hostage deal, said that Israel was instead racing ahead 'for Gaza to be wiped out.' He added that all of Gaza will be Jewish, and that — unlike Israel's prior settlements in Gush Katif — 'there will not be settlements inside cantons, closed up behind a fence.' At a time when Israel is facing a diplomatic backlash of the kind it has rarely experienced — when it is being accused of starving the Gazan population, committing ethnic cleansing and even genocide — statements like these are seized upon by the country's harshest critics to validate their claims. The harm is real and lasting. In the torrent of commentary last week from politicians and pundits trying to understand and explain the West's growing hostility toward Israel — in the avalanche of countries announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state and essentially reward Hamas — many pointed directly to statements like these. Not just isolated comments by Ben-Gvir or Eliyahu, but a steady stream of similar remarks over recent months from figures like Bezalel Smotrich, Orit Struck, and others. So much so that some diplomatic officials are urging Netanyahu to freeze all Gaza-related media appearances by government ministers — whether to international or domestic outlets — because even a seemingly minor interview with an obscure local radio station can and will be translated, circulated, and weaponized abroad. But here's the rub: it's not only the extreme Right that's damaging Israel's standing. Just look at the far Left. The international media is now running wild with an interview that author David Grossman gave to an Italian daily in which he described Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide. In a Friday interview with La Repubblica, Grossman said he was leveling the genocide accusation with 'intense pain and a broken heart.' 'For many years I refused to use this word,' he said. 'But now, after the images I've seen, what I've read, and what I've heard from people who were there, I can't help but use it.' Do you think Eliyahu's rhetoric was damaging? It pales in comparison to Grossman accusing Israel of genocide. As a celebrated author who lost his son in Lebanon, Grossman's words carry tremendous moral weight abroad. If he says Israel is committing genocide, then who are La Repubblica's readers — or anyone else — to argue? Grossman's defenders will say that it's the statements from Eliyahu, Ben-Gvir, and Smotrich that are isolating Israel internationally. But so are Grossman's. He may believe that by saying what he did, he's presenting the moral, compassionate face of Israel. But many abroad will simply take his words and use them — deliberately and gleefully — to portray Israel as an irredeemable villain, as a perpetrator of genocide. And Grossman is far from alone. Worried that Ben-Gvir is turning Israel into a pariah state? Consider this editorial last week by Yuli Novak, head of B'Tselem, published in the ever-hostile Guardian. The headline: 'I lead a top Israeli human rights group. Our country is committing genocide.' That headline is an echo of a recent New York Times op-ed written by an Israeli academic who has taught in the US since 1989 — Omer Bartov — titled: 'I am a genocide scholar. I know it when I see it.' His conclusion: Israel is committing genocide. All this is to say nothing of the Ehud Olmerts and Moshe Ya'alons -- the former accusing Israel of war crimes, the latter of ethnic cleansing. 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The point is simple: Israel's international standing is being battered from both ends of its political spectrum. The far Right undermines it with reckless belligerence; the far Left corrodes it with sanctimonious moral preening. One declares that Gaza should be wiped out, the other accuses Israel of genocide. One shouts, the other indicts. Both hands of ammunition to those eager to delegitimize the country. Both feed the same narrative: that Israel is evil. And left to pay the price and bear the consequences for these over-the-top and irresponsible remarks are the millions of Israelis in the middle — the vast majority — who are being defined in the eyes of the world by the rhetoric and portrayals of those on the country's extremes. Solve the daily Crossword
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Israel minister who led prayers at a controversial holy site has a record of provocative actions
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel's far-right national security minister led prayers on Sunday at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, drawing international condemnation and escalating tensions as Israel faces strong criticism over the war in Gaza. Itamar Ben-Gvir has frequently visited the contested Jerusalem hilltop compound during the war in Gaza. Jews revere the site as the Temple Mount, where the biblical temples once stood. It is the holiest site in Judaism. Today, it is home to the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. Tensions at the compound have frequently spilled over into violence over the years. It was the latest act of defiance by the 49-year-old ultranationalist settler leader who transformed himself over the decades from an outlaw and provocateur into one of Israel's most influential politicians. Here is a closer look at Ben-Gvir: Why was the visit considered a provocation? 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Ben-Gvir has been a magnet of controversy throughout his tenure — encouraging the mass distribution of handguns to Jewish citizens, backing Netanyahu's contentious attempt to overhaul the country's legal system and frequently lashing out at U.S. leaders for perceived slights against Israel. Resignation and return to Netanyahu's cabinet Ben-Gvir temporarily resigned from Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet earlier this year to express his disapproval of the Gaza ceasefire deal. The ceasefire ran from Jan. 19 to March 1. Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in return for nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants serving life sentences for deadly attacks. Israeli forces pulled back to a buffer zone, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to what remained of their homes, and there was a surge of humanitarian aid. Ben-Gvir's resignation did not stop the ceasefire, but it did weaken Netanyahu's governing coalition. Ben-Gvir rejoined the cabinet when Israel ended the ceasefire and returned to active combat in Gaza in March 2025. Last week, the Netherlands banned Ben-Gvir and far-right Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich from entering the country. Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed financial sanctions on the two men last month.
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Canada's trade minister confident that countries will come to a deal
Trump imposed heightened tariffs on Canada on Thursday. The levies only apply to goods not covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump negotiated in his first term, meaning much of Canada's economy is insulated. Still, Canada's steel and aluminum industries are feeling the heat, with the White House working to revitalize American production capacity. 'We understand and respect totally the President's view in terms of the national security interest,' LeBlanc said. 'In fact, we share it, and what we've said to our American counterparts is, how can we structure the right agreement, where we can both continue to supply one another in a reliable, cost-effective way that preserves jobs essential to the American economy, but the same thing is true, obviously in Canada as well.' Another wrinkle: Trump last week suggested on his social media platform that Carney's pledge to recognize Palestinian statehood could imperil talks, making it 'very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.' But LeBlanc, who left Washington on Friday after spending much of the week in town meeting with senior White House officials, remains positive. He cites the connective tissue underpinning the two countries' economies as a key reason for hope. 'One description which I thought was very apt: we don't sell things to each other as much as we build things together,' he told Brennan. 'And that's why it's difficult in this relationship when so much is integrated, but we remain very optimistic.'
