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IDF announces improved aid delivery, denies famine reports in Gaza
IDF announces improved aid delivery, denies famine reports in Gaza

UPI

time4 days ago

  • Politics
  • UPI

IDF announces improved aid delivery, denies famine reports in Gaza

Hundreds of Gazans carry flour seized from aid trucks that entered Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday. Photo by Mohammed Al-Amour/UPI | License Photo July 26 (UPI) -- Israel Defense Forces are taking new steps to improve the delivery of aid to Gazans, who the IDF says are not subject to famine despite contrary reports. Aerial aid drops will resume and include seven pallets of flour, sugar and canned food, while pauses in fighting will enable the safe movement of U.N. convoys that contain food and medical supplies, the IDF announced Saturday in a post on X. Israel also reconnected a power line from Israel to a desalination plant in Gaza that will increase daily water output to nearly 22,000 cubic yards. "The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in Gaza," the IDF post says. "This is a false campaign promoted by Hamas." The U.N. and international aid organizations are responsible for food distribution in Gaza and for ensuring Hamas does not receive any, which the IDF says commonly steals humanitarian aid for personal use and profit. Hamas accused of attacking aid distribution sites Hamas has targeted GHF aid distribution sites with deadly violence, including a July 16 incident that killed 19 Gazans at a Khan Younis site and a July 5 grenade attack that injured two U.S. aid workers, according to the non-partisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Such attacks occurred as Hamas struggles to raise funds and is incapable of rebuilding its collapsed tunnels or paying its fighters, former Israel Defense Forces intelligence officer Oded Ailam told The Washington Post on Monday. Hamas did not prepare for more than a year of war when it attacked Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023, and is struggling to provide basic services for Gazans, Gazan analyst Ibrahim Madhoun said. Hamas previously depended on revenues from taxing commercial shipments and seizing humanitarian goods for funding by deploying plainclothes Hamas personnel to take inventory at crossings into Gaza and warehouses and markets, The Washington Post reported. U.N. and European Commission officials and others from international organizations say there is no evidence of Hamas stealing aid. Officials with the U.S. Agency for International Development said they found no evidence of Hamas stealing aid for Gazans, ABC News reported on Saturday. USAID investigated 150 reported incidents of stolen aid from October 2024 until May and said the perpetrators could not be identified in most cases in which aid was seized. An unnamed Gazan contractor, though, told The Washington Post that over the past two years he witnessed Hamas charge local merchants about $6,000 each to receive aid or lose their trucks and threatened to kill or condemn those who did not cooperate. The contractor claims he knew at least two aid truck drivers who Hamas killed for refusing to pay the designated foreign terrorist organization to deliver aid intended for Gazans. U.N. aid trucks halted inside Gaza While claims of Hamas intercepting aid deliveries to raise funds are disputed, the United Nations says it has thousands of tons of aid sitting idle. The United Nations recently halted 950 trucks inside Gaza that holding a combined total of 2,500 tons of food near the Kerem Shalom crossing, Johnnie More, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation executive chairman, opined in The Wall Street Journal on Friday. "Since we began our operations in May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has repeatedly called for the U.N. and its affiliate agencies to combine efforts with us to feed the people of Gaza," Moore said. "As of Friday morning, hundreds of trucks loaded with food from the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations were sitting idle inside Gaza," he wrote. "The food is there, the people are starving, and yet it isn't moving to them fast enough to meet the need." Moore said video footage shows many of the trucks have been looted or abandoned, and their drivers are walking away. Officials with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency blame the GHF for what UNRWA calls a "constructed and deliberate mass starvation." The GHF is incapable of addressing the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza and called air drops the "most expensive and inefficient way to deliver aid" to Gazans, according to UNRWA. The agency says it has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks of food and medical supplies "Stuck" in Egypt and Jordan.

Hamas facing financial and administrative crisis as revenue dries up
Hamas facing financial and administrative crisis as revenue dries up

Washington Post

time21-07-2025

  • Politics
  • Washington Post

Hamas facing financial and administrative crisis as revenue dries up

TEL AVIV — Hamas is facing its worst financial and administrative crisis in its four-decade history, facing stiff challenges in mustering the resources needed to continue fighting Israel and ruling Gaza. With its coffers depleted, Hamas's military wing can no longer adequately pay the salaries of its fighters, though it is still able to recruit teenage boys for missions like keeping lookout or placing explosives along Israeli military routes, according to Oded Ailam, who is a former high-level Israeli intelligence officer, and current Israel Defense Forces officers. The group has also been unable to replace the well equipped tunnels and underground command centers that Israeli forces have destroyed in their bid to uproot Hamas. Before he was killed in an airstrike two months ago, Hamas military commander Mohammed Sinwar had been forced to take refuge in a one-room hideout 30 feet below a hospital in southern Gaza. The spartan bunker was a far cry from the vast underground complex that the Israeli military said it found earlier in the war farther north, which included spacious white-tiled rooms, a blast-proof door, mechanical ventilation and ample space to accommodate weapons stockpiles. 'Hamas is not rebuilding their tunnels, they're not paying their highly trained fighters, they're only surviving,' Ailam said. Nor can the Hamas administration meet the payroll of police and ministry employees in Gaza, where the group has been the governing authority since 2007, or continue to pay death benefits to the families of fighters killed, according to Ailam, a local Palestinian policeman and two other Gazans. Ibrahim Madhoun, a Gazan analyst close to Hamas, said that the group had not prepared for more than a year of war and has been forced to adopt austerity measures, such as cutting administrative costs and salaries, while trying to maintain some basic services — for instance, by setting up emergency committees that provide basic local services such as garbage collection and management of generator fuel — and thus some semblance of governing authority. To pick up some of the slack, Madhoun said, Hamas also relies on efforts of the local community and the 'strong social network that helps absorb the shocks.' Hamas officials did not respond to requests for comment about the group's financial health. Hamas and Israel are currently negotiating over a possible 60-day ceasefire, with Israel seeking to ensure that it can maintain pressure on Hamas and the militant group looking for a lifeline. All sides say the talks are making progress, but an agreement remains elusive. Earlier in the war, Hamas relied on taxes imposed on commercial shipments and the seizure of humanitarian goods, according to Gazans and current and former Israeli and foreign officials. According to a Gazan who has worked at the border, plainclothes Hamas personnel routinely took inventory of goods at the Rafah crossing, until it closed last year, and at the Kerem Shalom crossing, though it was under IDF control. They also surveyed warehouses and markets. Most of the Palestinians interviewed for this story spoke either on the condition of anonymity or that only their first name be used, for fear of reprisal by Hamas. The United Nations, the European Commission and major international aid organizations have said they have no evidence that Hamas has systematically stolen their aid, and the Israeli government has not provided proof. Hamas profited 'especially off the aid that had cost them nothing but whose prices they hike up,' said a Gazan contractor who has worked at Gaza's border crossings during the war. Over nearly two years, he said, he saw Hamas routinely collect 20,000 shekels (about $6,000) from local merchants, threatening to confiscate their trucks if they did not pay. He recalled that civil servants for the Hamas-led government said several times that they would kill him or call him a collaborator with Israel if he did not cooperate with their demands to divert aid. He said he refused. But he added that he knew at least two aid truck drivers who he said were killed by Hamas for refusing to pay. When Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in March, shortly before breaking a two-month ceasefire with Hamas, most of those shipments came to a halt. Hamas officials did not respond to requests for comment about accounts that it has taxed or impounded commercial shipments, stolen humanitarian aid or extorted local businessmen. Hamas triggered the devastating war in Gaza by attacking Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 others back into Gaza as hostages. Since then, the Israeli military campaign has killed more than 58,000 people, mostly women and children, Gazan health authorities say. An Israeli military official said Hamas has lost 90 percent of its leadership and 90 percent of its weapons stockpiles over the course of the conflict. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media. In the early phase of the war, Hamas had rushed to stash cash and supplies underground, but those have run short. In March 2024, the Israeli army said that it confiscated more than $3 million from the tunnels beneath al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza, according to a statement in the IDF's WhatsApp group. But Hamas has profited off commercial trade and humanitarian aid, netting hundreds of millions of dollars, according to two Israeli military officials and an Israeli intelligence official, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings. For instance, the officials said, Hamas seized at least 15 percent of some goods, like flour, and aid vouchers that international agencies had intended to provide to hungry Gazans. These officials said some of that was given to Hamas personnel and supporters while the rest was sold to make money. Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian American who leads the advocacy group Realign for Palestine, said that Hamas repeatedly modified its strategy for profiting off aid and commerce while counting on the humanitarian crisis to bring the war to an end. 'Hamas's strategy relied on the suffering of Gazans,' said Alkhatib. 'But when this strategy failed, it foolishly doubled down on this approach, in large part because it had nothing else in its toolbox to deal with Israel's ferocious reaction to Oct. 7 and the world's inability to stop it.' 'Hamas sees aid as its most important currency,' said a man from Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, who helps manage the distribution of aid. He said that while most of the population had to scrape for water and food, people affiliated with Hamas had been gifted boxes of aid meant for wider distribution. The IDF, citing intelligence, says the aid organizations targeted by Hamas have included U.N. agencies and NGOs. The Israeli government has used allegations of widespread Hamas theft to justify draconian restrictions on humanitarian assistance entering Gaza and to justify bombing aid depots. Some far-right members of the Israeli government have said these restrictions are useful in pressuring Hamas into making negotiating concessions and in turning Gaza's population against Hamas. Israel has not provided public proof that Hamas has systematically stolen aid brought into Gaza under the U.N. system, and despite requests from The Washington Post to officials in the IDF, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the prime minister's office, no evidence has been provided to substantiate reports of widespread diversion of U.N. food aid. Nor has Israel privately presented proof to humanitarian organizations or Western government officials, even when they have pressed for evidence, according to interviews with more than a dozen aid officials and several current and former Western officials. Carl Skau, deputy executive director for the U.N.'s World Food Program, one of the main providers of flour in Gaza throughout the war, said in an interview that systematic aid diversion by Hamas 'has not been an issue for us so far in the conflict.' WFP previously reported three instances of looting of its supplies during 21 months of war. 'We have mitigating measures that we have drawn lessons from over the past 40 years operating in these kinds of complex environments with armed groups,' he said. 'We are putting all those mitigating measures in place.' Officials from several major international aid organizations have also said that there has been no systematic diversion of their aid by Hamas and that they have robust procedures for tracking aid as it enters Gaza and is distributed. An Egyptian official briefed on intelligence, however, said that Hamas had indeed stolen some of this food aid. 'Hamas is trying to use the aid to survive. It's happening,' said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media. Among the group's demands in negotiations with Israel over a new ceasefire deal is the reopening of Gaza's borders and the surging of humanitarian aid — partly to alleviate the severe shortage of food that has turned public opinion against Hamas, but also to revive its cash flow, said an official familiar with the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations. 'One of the reasons that Hamas is pushing for a return to the old system is that they have guys in all of the warehouses,' said a Western official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the news media. The presence of employees of the Gaza government allows Hamas to regulate and monitor market activities, as well as tax or seize some of the supplies at times, said a high-level Israeli official. Until commercial shipments into Gaza were suspended in October, Hamas taxed these imports at the border and, if traders refused, commandeered a portion of their trucks and sold their contents to Gazan merchants, according to a Gazan economic reporter. He said that before the war, 'fuel and cigarettes were the highest taxed and most profitable items for the Hamas government in Gaza,' adding that revenue data has been difficult to access. A Gazan businessman said Hamas had imposed a tax of a least 20 percent on many goods. But the group also would take control of trucks carrying high-demand goods like flour, which could sell for up to $30 for a kilogram, and steal fuel meant for aid groups. Fuel supplies have produced high revenue for Hamas during the war, with the group both taxing and seizing fuel stored at gas stations for sale, said an Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in accordance with military protocol. In addition to taxing goods, Hamas also made money by allowing associated merchants to sell imported staples like sugar and flour at inflated prices without fear of being punished for price gouging, according to the IDF, which cited an internal Hamas document obtained by the military. The Gazan economic reporter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, confirmed that these merchants are allowed to sell goods at inflated prices. He said Hamas would at times constrain supply on the market by ordering others to withhold distribution for several days, thus forcing up prices. When Israel resumed the war in March, Hamas saw its revenue tumble as imports and aid shipments into Gaza largely were reduced to a trickle. The establishment in May of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a food assistance program backed by the U.S. and Israel whose operations have been overshadowed by the repeated fatal shooting of Palestinians seeking aid at its centers — has deprived Hamas of earlier revenue, the Israeli military official said. As Hamas has come under growing military and financial pressures, it has become increasingly repressive in a bid to show it is still in control. Gazans interviewed for this story spoke of growing fear of retribution. In videos posted since this spring on social media by a Hamas-linked unit formed to dole out punishments, masked gunmen are shown beating up and shooting the legs of men accused of stealing aid. Gazans said Hamas is also seeking to intimidate those critical of the group. Last month, for instance, Mowafeq Khdour, 31, was robbed and brutally beaten by dozens of armed Hamas men after he spoke out publicly against Hamas, his brother Mahmoud said over WhatsApp. As Hamas adopts harsher policies, the group's popularity is falling, said Rami, a 40-year-old employee of the Hamas-run government who spoke on the condition that only his first name be used out of concern for his safety. He said the anger on Gaza's streets is markedly different from the optimism earlier in the conflict, when 'we believed we were on the brink of liberating Palestine or achieving a major victory in the war,' especially with Hamas and its allies holding about 250 people hostage. 'Israel's actions are undeniably criminal, but Hamas's poor judgment and failure to account for the war's aftermath have also contributed significantly to this disaster,' Rami said. Balousha reported from Hamilton, Ontario. Miriam Berger and Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

Straight out of a spy film: Ex-Mossad officer explains how Israeli spies infiltrate Iran's deepest circles
Straight out of a spy film: Ex-Mossad officer explains how Israeli spies infiltrate Iran's deepest circles

Time of India

time07-07-2025

  • Politics
  • Time of India

Straight out of a spy film: Ex-Mossad officer explains how Israeli spies infiltrate Iran's deepest circles

Mossad spy network in Iran : Former officer reveals secrets of recruitment inside enemy territory- Israel's Mossad spy network in Iran has long remained a mystery. But now, former Mossad officer Oded Ailam, who served for 24 years in the Israeli intelligence agency, is offering rare insight into how Israeli spies are recruited and protected deep inside hostile Iranian territory. In an exclusive interview with German outlet Bild , Ailam, 71, explained how Israel's most secretive agency built a wide-reaching network of agents—even in one of the world's most tightly controlled and adversarial nations. Despite Iran's ongoing crackdown on espionage and public calls from the regime to expose collaborators, Mossad has managed to operate by understanding the deep fractures within Iranian society—and using them to its advantage. Why is Iran's diversity a key to Mossad's recruitment success? Ailam pointed out that Iran is far from a united nation. 'Only 40% of Iran's 90 million citizens are Persian,' he said. That leaves a large population of minorities, including Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, and Turkmen, who often feel disconnected or even oppressed by the central government. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Fungo nas unhas: um truque simples reduz facilmente Acabe com os Fungo Undo 'This makes it extremely difficult for the Iranian regime to control the population,' Ailam told Bild . Unlike East Germany's notorious Stasi, which maintained strict surveillance, Iran's intelligence system still has major blind spots. 'The surveillance system has enormous gaps,' Ailam explained. 'It can't be compared to what the Stasi did in the GDR.' These ethnic and social divides have created opportunities for Mossad to recruit insiders who are not necessarily pro-Israel—but who are deeply disillusioned with the regime. Live Events What motivates Iranians to become Mossad informants? According to Ailam, many Iranians who agree to spy aren't doing it for ideology or loyalty to Israel. In fact, many are motivated by anger at their own government or by simple economic need. 'There are many dissatisfied people in Iran. Large parts of society are impoverished,' he said. Iran has some of the world's largest natural gas reserves, but 'instead of investing this money in their own country, the mullahs have poured billions into terror organizations like Hezbollah,' Ailam added. This mismanagement, he said, creates fertile ground for discontent. Mossad agents target this dissatisfaction—offering money, safety, and sometimes the chance to make a real difference against the system they hate. How does Mossad protect spies operating inside Iran? Working as a spy inside Iran is a life-threatening risk. But Mossad takes steps to ensure the safety of both the agents and their families. 'When someone works for us, we take care not only of them but also of their family,' Ailam said. If necessary, Mossad is capable of extracting an agent and their loved ones and relocating them to safety. This promise of family protection is a critical part of the recruitment strategy. It helps build trust with informants and offers a powerful reason for them to commit—even in dangerous conditions. How does Mossad pick the right people to become spies? Ailam was clear: Mossad doesn't recruit just anyone. The selection process is long, careful, and methodical. 'We take a lot of time to make sure the person is the right fit,' he said. Even when targeting a specific objective, Mossad doesn't rely on a single source of information. 'For a target, not only one agent's information is used, but always multiple sources to be sure the right person is hit,' Ailam added. This multi-source verification helps prevent misinformation, protects the safety of operations, and ensures only the most trusted individuals are activated for critical missions. Can anything really be smuggled into Iran? One of Mossad's strategic advantages, according to Ailam, is Iran's porous borders. Despite the regime's efforts, Iran's vast size makes it difficult to control everything. 'There is also the fact that Iran is a large country with borders that can't always be monitored,' Ailam said. 'It makes it possible to smuggle anything into the country.' This includes encrypted communication tools, surveillance gear, and even explosive devices when necessary for sabotage missions. This logistical loophole allows Mossad to maintain contact with field agents and deliver the tools they need—without relying on risky internal infrastructure. Why is Mossad's spy network in Iran so important now? With tensions between Iran and Israel running high, and Iran's involvement with Hezbollah, Hamas, and other regional militias deepening, Mossad's intelligence from within Iran is critical to Israeli national security. The success of this network not only helps Israel anticipate attacks but also plays a major role in sabotage operations, cyberwarfare, and targeting Iranian nuclear development. Though Mossad rarely comments on its operations, leaks and interviews like Ailam's offer a rare glimpse into the complex, dangerous, and deeply human world of espionage in one of the world's most secretive nations. FAQs: Q: How does Mossad recruit spies in Iran? Mossad uses ethnic divisions, dissatisfaction with the regime, and offers protection to recruit Iranian spies. Q: Why is the Mossad spy network in Iran important? It helps Israel gather vital intelligence and counter threats from inside Iran's borders.

Former Mossad officer explains how Iranian spies are recruited
Former Mossad officer explains how Iranian spies are recruited

Yahoo

time07-07-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Former Mossad officer explains how Iranian spies are recruited

Ailam, 71, served with the Mossad for 24 years, and explained how the agency was able to recruit so many spies in a hostile country. The Mossad has an 'extensive network' of spies operating in Iran, former Israeli intelligence officer Oded Ailam told German newspaper Bild in an interview last week. Ailam, 71, served with the Mossad for 24 years and explained how the agency was able to recruit so many spies in a hostile country, even as Iran's mullahs continue to call on the population to hunt the defectors down. Iran is not a homogeneous country, Ailam explained, as only 40% of its population of 90 million are Persian. "This makes it extremely difficult for the government to control the people. The surveillance system has enormous gaps; it can't be compared to what the Stasi did in the GDR," he said. Kurds, Turkmen, Baluchis, and Azeris can all be recruited to turn on the regime. Many of these demographics can be recruited, if not to support Israel, or for the money, but because of their dissatisfaction with the regime. "There are many dissatisfied people in Iran. Large parts of society are impoverished. While Iran sits on huge gas reserves, instead of investing this money in their own country, the mullahs have poured billions into terror organizations like Hezbollah," Ailam said. "There is also the fact that Iran is a large country with borders that can't always be monitored, making it possible to smuggle 'anything' into the country." The Mossad also promises protection for its spies in Iran, and will bring them and their families to safety if necessary. "When someone works for us, we take care not only of them but also of their family," he explained. Despite the fact that Iran has many people with the potential to work for the Mossad, Ailam added that the agency spends a significant amount of time making sure those selected are right for the job. "For a target, not only one agent's information is used, but always multiple sources to be sure the right person is hit," Ailam said. "That's why when looking for agents, we don't just pick anyone, we take a lot of time to make sure the person is the right fit."

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