The Palestinian terrorist group of Hamas does not have enough money to pay for its fighters, the resources that dry out of Israel renewing its offensive in the Gaza Strip last month and interrupting humanitarian aid deliveries, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing Israeli, Arab and Western officials.
According to Arab intelligence officials, the salaries of many employees of the government of Hamas have stopped, and since last month, many higher agents and political figures have only obtained half of their usual salary. Basic Hamas agents only obtained $ 200 $ 300 per month.
Moumen Al-Natour, a Palestinian lawyer for the Al-Shati camp in the center of Gaza, told the newspaper that Hamas had “a great crisis” on his hands.
“They depended mainly on the humanitarian aid sold in the black markets for money,” said Al-Nourtour, who opposed the Hamas regime.
Throughout the war, Hamas had taken aid supplies and sold them to collect funds, according to Israeli, Arab and Western officials, none of whom was appointed in the report.
The group billed the taxes of merchants, collected customs at the control points and seized the goods which he then sold.
As a January cease-fire began, Hamas was in crisis, but the truce brought more aid, rekindling its finances, officials said. But when the cease-fire collapsed in March, Israel interrupted aid deliveries and resumed its attacks against Hamas, deepening the fate of the group.
A member of the security forces faithful to Hamas is being held at the top of one of the trucks carrying humanitarian aid from the border crossing of Kerem Shalom in Al Shoka, east of Rafah in the Gaza Strip in the South on January 21, 2025 (Bashar Taleb / AFP)
The Israeli offensive has targeted Hamas officials involved in the distribution of liquidity to members, while others have hidden, Arab intelligence officials said in the newspaper.
In addition to not being able to pay its agents, Hamas also finds it difficult to obtain new recruits and maintain a united front among the population against Israel, with Gazans sometimes demonstrating against the group so as not to end the war, noted the report.
Hamas did not respond when he asked by the newspaper to comment.
The Palestinians are looking at a truck responsible for help in the city of southern Gaza on January 20, 2025, while residents returned following a cease-fire contract a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian group of Hamas. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP)
Israeli officials have said that the financial value of aid has become so important to Hamas that Israel is considering more strict limitations on what it allows Gaza when aid resumes. In the past, a blockade was aimed at catching goods that pose a security risk, but now Israel is thinking about everything that has an important financial value for Hamas, a official in the newspaper told.
Western and Arab officials say Hamas has hidden some $ 500 million over the years, some out of the $ 15 million a month who have arrived from Qatar in coordination with Israel. Much of the money is seated in Türkiye, according to the report.
After the war began with the October 7 attack on Hamas against Israel, the central bank of Israel stopped refreshing the strip with new Shekel invoices, which are legal on the territory. Many banks and automatic banknotes in Gaza have been destroyed. These developments have put more stress on Gaza civilians.
Consequently, the money repair workshops appeared when the Palestinians work to repair the worn invoices, according to the report.
Although he does not know how much money remains in circulation in Gaza, an analyst estimated the document that there could be $ 3 billion.
The Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, is seen in the Morag corridor area of the South Gaza Strip, between Rafah and Khan Younis, April 9, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian / Times of Israel)
Wednesday, the Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, said that humanitarian aid supplies would end up resuming, but only through “civil societies”, to prevent food and equipment from falling into the hands of Hamas.
He said that Israel’s policy in Gaza includes “stopping humanitarian aid, which compromises Hamas control over the population, and the creation of a distribution (aid) infrastructure through civil companies later.”
The efforts to reach another cease-fire which, like two preceding truities, include the release of the hostages has so far failed to progress. A key snack is Israel’s request to be able to continue to fight until Hamas is destroyed, while the terrorist group demands the end of the war.
