\nIsrael recently halted the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza \u2014 aid that, according to Arab, Israeli, and Western sources, Hamas had regularly diverted to sell on the black market. In parallel, the IDF has eliminated senior Hamas operatives responsible for financial transfers, forcing others to go underground.<\/p>\n
Intelligence sources report that operatives and government workers in Gaza have stopped receiving salaries. Some senior Hamas members were paid only half their wages during the last month of Ramadan. Low-level operatives had been receiving around $200\u2013$300 a month, but those payments have virtually ceased. Eyal Ofer, a researcher specializing in Gaza\u2019s economy, explained: \u201cEven if Hamas has access to large sums of money, it has almost no way to distribute them in the field without becoming an obvious target for the IDF.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamas Looking for Alternatives<\/strong> Palestinian sources say Hamas withdrew $180 million from local banks in Gaza at the beginning of the war. The group also used humanitarian supplies to impose taxes, collect customs duties, and resell items in local markets. In addition, it imported goods using funds from abroad and sold them within the Strip.<\/p>\n Recruitment and Cohesion Becoming Difficult<\/strong> Salary cuts have made it more difficult for Hamas to recruit terrorists and preserve internal cohesion, leading to rare public protests in Gaza. Civilians are also suffering: banks and ATMs have shut down, and fees for converting foreign currency are soaring.<\/p>\n The Bank of Israel has also stopped sending new banknotes into Gaza, giving rise to a new phenomenon \u2014 \u201ccash repair\u201d: workshops where damaged bills are washed, taped, and put back into circulation.<\/p>\n The signs are clear: Hamas, once reliant on a cash-based economy, is now losing not just its ability to pay \u2014 but also its organizational unity, the motivation of its members, and its economic control over the territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Israel eliminated Hamas financiers and restricted the entry of goods \u2013 now Hamas is losing control. Terror operatives are going unpaid, civilians are desperate for cash, and the terror organization is struggling to maintain its grip on Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":19912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1476,4291,1477,4290,4292],"class_list":["post-19910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-economy","tag-hamas","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-israeli-security-policy"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe Wall Street Journal noted that prior to the war, Hamas received $15 million per month from Qatar, along with additional funding from Turkey, West African countries, and parts of South Asia. At one point, the group reportedly had financial reserves totaling around half a billion dollars \u2014 most of it held in Turkey. But since the start of the war, Israel has significantly restricted the flow of cash into Gaza, forcing Hamas to seek alternative revenue sources.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/cash2.jpg\")
\nAccording to intelligence officials, Hamas\u2019s cash flow crisis worsened until the ceasefire in January, when large-scale aid briefly entered the Gaza Strip. But since March, with the border once again closed to incoming goods, the economic collapse has returned in full force.<\/p>\n