Latest news with #Barhoum
Memri
5 days ago
- Politics
- Memri
Columnist In Palestinian Authority Daily: Gazans Must Rise Up Against Hamas, Demand The Release Of The Israeli Hostages, And That Hamas Withdraw From The Political Scene To End The War
In his August 9, 2025 column in the Palestinian Authority (PA) daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, journalist Bassem Barhoum wrote that there was only one hope for ending the war in Gaza: the Palestinian public in Gaza must rise up and take to the streets to demand the release of the Israeli hostages and the withdrawal of Hamas from the political scene. Barhoum argues that Hamas is not a national Palestinian movement at all, but a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood that serves "its own interests and those of its regional allies" rather than the national interests of the Palestinian people. Hamas's coup against the PA in 2007, he adds, created a crisis that led to "a nakba more serious than the first nakba" of 1948.[1] Bassem Barhoum (Image: The following are translated excerpts from his column:[2] "On the night between Thursday and Friday [August 7-8, 2025], the Israeli war cabinet decided to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. This large-scale military operation could last several months and perhaps even more than a year. However, if it ends with an Israeli occupation of the Strip, we will have to understand that Gaza has been completely destroyed… and that the Gaza Strip may lose its Palestinian national identity for many decades to come. This scenario inevitably compels us to question the fate of the Strip, as well as the fate of the long and bitter Palestinian struggle for an independent state and of the Palestinian cause as a whole. "There are many additional questions, but the important of them at the moment is: How can we avoid all this and avoid the elimination of our national cause? What makes this a difficult task in the present Palestinian reality is that Hamas does not think or act based on national Palestinian premises. [It thinks and acts] based on the premises of the Muslim Brotherhood and its own interests and those of its regional allies. The Palestinian people is trapped between the two jaws of a predator that is crushing our bones and our future. One jaw is the extremist Zionist right-wing stream [in Israel]… and the other is the global [Muslim] Brotherhood organization… "We must find some way or some action that will preempt the Israeli war machine, and in this context I believe that [UN] conferences and useless Security Council meetings are unable to stop the great slaughter… "After Hamas led the Palestinian people into a deep crisis following the 2006 elections [and its military coup against the PA in 2007] – a crisis that has now led us to a nakba more serious than the first nakba [of 1948] – we find that we were wrong to allow two parallel paths to remain, paths that do not meet and can never meet because the disagreement between them is essential, namely the national Palestinian path and the Islamist path of the [Muslim] Brotherhood…[3] "There may be one and only one hope [for Gaza]: the Palestinian public in Gaza – all of it or at least most of it – must rise up, take to the streets en masse and demand that Hamas release the [Israeli] hostages without delay and withdraw from the entire political scene. This may be difficult and may involve some risk, but it is the only chance to avoid total devastation, killing and expulsion. If anyone has a different solution, let him share it with all of us… In my opinion, today this is the [only] feasible solution that may put a stop to the war."
Indian Express
07-08-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Cryptic texts and cash in hand: How Hamas pays its civil servants
Ever wondered how getting a cryptic message to get your salary feels like? In Gaza, that's the reality for thousands of Hamas civil servants, says a BBC report. According to the report, Hamas has adopted a secretive method to pay its civil servants amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war and the collapse of Gaza's financial systems. Amid soaring inflation and banks shut, even receiving a salary notification is now considered life-threatening. Civil servants, from police officers to tax officials, receive cryptic texts, sometimes on their spouse's phones. The message instructs them to reach a specific location at a designated time with a code phrase like, 'Meet a friend for tea'. Upon arrival, the officials are discreetly handed an envelope of cash by a stranger, often without a word, and the person vanishes immediately after with no further discussion. Hamas reportedly pays around 30,000 civil servants once every 10 weeks. These payments amount to just over 20 per cent of their pre-war salaries, totalling about $7 million (£5.3 million), according to the BBC. For most employees, that's roughly one-third of what they used to earn and in a place where basic necessities like flour can cost up to $80 per kilogram, that barely makes ends meet. Each journey to collect payment carries the risk of death. One employee from Hamas's Ministry of Religious Affairs told the BBC, 'Every time I go to pick up my salary, I say goodbye to my wife and children. I know that I may not return.' Even after successfully collecting their salaries, the officials often face a challenge with the condition of the currency. With scarcity of cash, many receive old, soiled notes that shopkeepers refuse to accept. The BBC quoted a school teacher, who is the sole provider for a family of six, as saying, 'I received 1,000 shekels (about $300) in worn-out banknotes. Only 200 shekels were usable and the rest, I honestly don't know what to do with.' How Hamas continues to finance its employees still remains unclear. In March, Israeli forces killed Ismail Barhoum, Hamas's head of finance, in a strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Israel justified its action by accusing Barhoum of funnelling funds to the group's military wing. Historically, Hamas has relied on import duties, local taxes, and financial support from Qatar. Its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, is largely funded by Iran and operates through a separate financial system. A senior Hamas official told the BBC that prior to the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the group had stockpiled around $700 million in cash and hundreds of millions of shekels in underground tunnels.
United News of India
13-05-2025
- Health
- United News of India
Israeli army says struck Hamas militants in Gaza hospital
World Jerusalem, May 13 (UNI) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that it conducted a targeted airstrike at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the southern Gaza Strip, early in the morning. According to a statement released by the IDF, the hospital compound "was being used by terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops." The IDF said that Ismail Barhoum, the successor to Hamas' Gaza leadership and also head of its financial and institutional operations, had operated from within the facility. Barhoum was reportedly killed in a prior strike in March. It added that "senior Hamas officials continue to use the hospital for terrorist activity, through cynical and brutal use of the civilian population in the hospital and its surroundings." The statement said the IDF has taken measures to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence. Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that journalist Hassan Eslieh, who was receiving treatment at the hospital, was killed in the Israeli attack, and several patients sustained various injuries as a result of the bombing. UNI XINHUA GNK
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Wounded Palestinians dying over lack of supplies, US surgeon who worked in Gaza says
An American surgeon who's been working in two Gaza hospitals for the past three weeks has said that wounded Palestinian patients have died because of the lack of equipment and supplies. Dr Mark Perlmutter says that doctors have had to work in operating rooms without soap, antibiotics or x-ray facilities, as Israel has resumed its offensive against Hamas in Gaza. A 15-year-old girl who was hit by Israeli machine gun fire while riding her bicycle was one of the many wounded children that Dr Perlmutter said he had to operate on. The Israeli government has said the renewed attacks that its military is carrying out in Gaza are aimed at forcing Hamas to release all the remaining hostages. Dr Perlmutter spoke to the BBC shortly after the end of his second trip to Gaza - the first one was around a year ago. Critical of Israel's conduct in the Strip, he has previously called for an arms embargo and said its attacks on Gaza constitute genocide, which Israel vehemently denies. This time, he worked in Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the territory and then in Nasser hospital in the south of Gaza. He has been working for Humanity Auxilium in Gaza as part of a wider World Health Organization (WHO) programme. He was in Nasser hospital when it was hit by an Israeli air strike, targeting Ismail Barhoum, the Hamas finance chief. Hamas said that Barhoum was being treated for injuries that he suffered in an earlier Israeli attack. The Israeli military denied this, saying he was in the hospital "in order to commit acts of terrorism". Dr Perlmutter has told the BBC that Barhoum was in the hospital to receive further medical treatment. He says that as a patient in hospital, Barhoum had a right to be protected under the Geneva Convention. The human cost of the latest Israeli offensive was exemplified for Dr Perlmutter by two 15-year-olds - including the girl on the bicycle - who were brought into the operating room in each of the hospitals he was working in, a week apart. "They were both macerated and shredded by Apache gunships," Dr Perlmutter says. The girl will, in his words, "be lucky if she keeps three of her limbs". Dr Perlmutter says that people at the scene told the ambulance crew who brought the young girl into the hospital that she was hit by gunfire from an Israeli military helicopter. He says that she had been riding her bicycle by herself and she arrived at the hospital without a backpack or anything else that might have aroused suspicion. Graphic images from the operating table show catastrophic wounds to her leg and arm. The boy was driving in a car with his grandmother after receiving warnings to evacuate from the north, Dr Perlmutter says. "Then the car was attacked by two Apache gunships. The grandmother was shredded at the scene and died," he said. "The boy came in without a foot on his right side, the vascular repair on his left side took five hours - the nerve repair on his left side failed and he had a blackened hand the next day that required amputation at the level of his elbow - his left leg will require multiple surgeries for reconstruction and he has a chest wound. He may not have survived." Dr Perlmutter has also provided graphic photos of the boy's wounds. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "does not target uninvolved individuals." "The IDF operates in accordance with international law, targeting only military objectives while taking feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians," it told the BBC. The statement also said that the IDF had not been provided with "sufficient information" to directly address the incidents that Dr Perlmutter described. "The IDF takes action to address irregular incidents that deviate from its orders. The IDF examines such incidents and takes appropriate measures where justified," it said. Under such conditions, Dr Perlmutter stressed the commitment and dedication of the Palestinian medical staff - above and beyond the efforts of foreign doctors like himself. "The stress levels on us are not even approachable to what happens even to the Palestinian medical students that work with us, whose stress levels are insane, as with the nurses and the techs in the operating room, let alone the Palestinian surgeons," he said. "They all abandon their families, they volunteer and often work without pay. They work the same hours that we do - and we get to go home in a month, which they don't. They still have to return to the squalor of their tents where there's often 50 people living in a tent built for 20 - and sharing one toilet." Most hospitals across Gaza are out of operation or barely managing to function. Dr Perlmutter compared the medical facilities in Gaza to where he lives in North Carolina. There are multiple trauma centres there, but they would have been overwhelmed, he says, if they had to deal with the mass influx of casualties that resulted from the first day of Israel's resumption of its war against Hamas. "The small community hospital, Al-Aqsa, is a tenth the size of any of the facilities in my home state - maybe smaller - and it did well to manage those horrible injuries - nevertheless, because of lack of equipment, many, many of those patients died, who would certainly not have died at a better equipped hospital," he said. On Saturday the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the current situation in Gaza as dire. "All entry points into Gaza are closed for cargo since early March. At the border, food is rotting, medicine expiring and vital medical equipment is stuck," he said. "If the basic principles of humanitarian law still count, the international community must act to uphold them." On 2 March the Israeli government closed border crossings with Gaza and halted humanitarian aid. It said this was in response to what it called the refusal by Hamas of a new US proposal to extend the first stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, rather than negotiating a second phase. "When Israel resumed its attacks, it was almost identical to when they bombed incessantly when I was here a year ago," Dr Perlmutter says. "The only difference is now instead of bombing people in buildings, they were bombing people in tents." The Israeli army has regularly claimed that Hamas operates from areas where civilians are taking shelter. It says that it does not target civilians and takes measures to avoid civilian casualties. The International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes, saying it found reasonable grounds to believe that "each bear criminal responsibility... for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population". They deny this. Israeli attacks have killed more than 15,000 Palestinian children in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has reported. And since the IDF broke a ceasefire and resumed its strikes on 18 March, 921 Palestinians have been killed, the ministry said. Dr Perlmutter warns that if there are more mass casualty events in Gaza from Israeli attacks, the lack of supplies in the two hospitals he's been working in means that more Palestinians will die from wounds that could have been treated.
BBC News
30-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Israel-Gaza war: Wounded Palestinians dying over lack of supplies, surgeon says
Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressingAn American surgeon who's been working in two Gaza hospitals for the past three weeks has said that wounded Palestinian patients have died because of the lack of equipment and Mark Perlmutter says that doctors have had to work in operating rooms without soap, antibiotics or x-ray facilities, as Israel has resumed its offensive against Hamas in Gaza.A 15-year-old girl who was hit by Israeli machine gun fire while riding her bicycle was one of the many wounded children that Dr Perlmutter said he had to operate Israeli government has said the renewed attacks that its military is carrying out in Gaza are aimed at forcing Hamas to release all the remaining hostages. Dr Perlmutter spoke to the BBC shortly after the end of his second trip to Gaza - the first one was around a year ago. Critical of Israel's conduct in the Strip, he has previously called for an arms embargo and said its attacks on Gaza constitute genocide, which Israel vehemently time, he worked in Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the territory and then in Nasser hospital in the south of has been working for Humanity Auxilium in Gaza as part of a wider World Health Organization (WHO) was in Nasser hospital when it was hit by an Israeli air strike, targeting Ismail Barhoum, the Hamas finance said that Barhoum was being treated for injuries that he suffered in an earlier Israeli attack. The Israeli military denied this, saying he was in the hospital "in order to commit acts of terrorism".Dr Perlmutter has told the BBC that Barhoum was in the hospital to receive further medical treatment. He says that as a patient in hospital, Barhoum had a right to be protected under the Geneva Convention. The human cost of the latest Israeli offensive was exemplified for Dr Perlmutter by two 15-year-olds - including the girl on the bicycle - who were brought into the operating room in each of the hospitals he was working in, a week apart."They were both macerated and shredded by Apache gunships," Dr Perlmutter girl will, in his words, "be lucky if she keeps three of her limbs".Dr Perlmutter says that people at the scene told the ambulance crew who brought the young girl into the hospital that she was hit by gunfire from an Israeli military helicopter. He says that she had been riding her bicycle by herself and she arrived at the hospital without a backpack or anything else that might have aroused suspicion. Graphic images from the operating table show catastrophic wounds to her leg and boy was driving in a car with his grandmother after receiving warnings to evacuate from the north, Dr Perlmutter says."Then the car was attacked by two Apache gunships. The grandmother was shredded at the scene and died," he said. "The boy came in without a foot on his right side, the vascular repair on his left side took five hours - the nerve repair on his left side failed and he had a blackened hand the next day that required amputation at the level of his elbow - his left leg will require multiple surgeries for reconstruction and he has a chest wound. He may not have survived."Dr Perlmutter has also provided graphic photos of the boy's a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "does not target uninvolved individuals.""The IDF operates in accordance with international law, targeting only military objectives while taking feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians," it told the statement also said that the IDF had not been provided with "sufficient information" to directly address the incidents that Dr Perlmutter described."The IDF takes action to address irregular incidents that deviate from its orders. The IDF examines such incidents and takes appropriate measures where justified," it said. Under such conditions, Dr Perlmutter stressed the commitment and dedication of the Palestinian medical staff - above and beyond the efforts of foreign doctors like himself."The stress levels on us are not even approachable to what happens even to the Palestinian medical students that work with us, whose stress levels are insane, as with the nurses and the techs in the operating room, let alone the Palestinian surgeons," he said. "They all abandon their families, they volunteer and often work without pay. They work the same hours that we do - and we get to go home in a month, which they don't. They still have to return to the squalor of their tents where there's often 50 people living in a tent built for 20 - and sharing one toilet."Most hospitals across Gaza are out of operation or barely managing to function. Dr Perlmutter compared the medical facilities in Gaza to where he lives in North Carolina. There are multiple trauma centres there, but they would have been overwhelmed, he says, if they had to deal with the mass influx of casualties that resulted from the first day of Israel's resumption of its war against Hamas."The small community hospital, Al-Aqsa, is a tenth the size of any of the facilities in my home state - maybe smaller - and it did well to manage those horrible injuries - nevertheless, because of lack of equipment, many, many of those patients died, who would certainly not have died at a better equipped hospital," he said. On Saturday the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the current situation in Gaza as dire."All entry points into Gaza are closed for cargo since early March. At the border, food is rotting, medicine expiring and vital medical equipment is stuck," he said."If the basic principles of humanitarian law still count, the international community must act to uphold them."On 2 March the Israeli government closed border crossings with Gaza and halted humanitarian aid. It said this was in response to what it called the refusal by Hamas of a new US proposal to extend the first stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, rather than negotiating a second phase."When Israel resumed its attacks, it was almost identical to when they bombed incessantly when I was here a year ago," Dr Perlmutter says. "The only difference is now instead of bombing people in buildings, they were bombing people in tents."The Israeli army has regularly claimed that Hamas operates from areas where civilians are taking shelter. It says that it does not target civilians and takes measures to avoid civilian casualties. The International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes, saying it found reasonable grounds to believe that "each bear criminal responsibility... for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population". They deny attacks have killed more than 15,000 Palestinian children in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has since the IDF broke a ceasefire and resumed its strikes on 18 March, 921 Palestinians have been killed, the ministry Perlmutter warns that if there are more mass casualty events in Gaza from Israeli attacks, the lack of supplies in the two hospitals he's been working in means that more Palestinians will die from wounds that could have been treated.
