Yesterday, according to reliable reports, Hamas made cash payments to a large portion of the reportedly 40,000 employees of its ministries in Gaza, whose salaries have not been paid for months. Hamas' taxation of commerce transiting the cross-border tunnels from Egypt dried up when the Egyptians destroyed the illicit tunnels. This cash distribution, known to be individual payments that ranged from $275 to $1240, were made in US Dollars, said to have been deposited in Islamic National Bank of Gaza*, located in Gaza City. Since the currency in common use in the Territories is the Israeli Shekel (NIS), the cash, once withdrawn, was immediately converted by local currency exchangers. Hamas alleges that these payments are merely loans; it declines to identify the source of these funds.
What's wrong with this picture ? Whether the money came from Hamas' benefactor, Qatar, or other donors, Hamas is a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SGDT) organization, and I would truly lie to know what US bank is making a fat profit by shipping millions of dollars in greenbacks to the Middle East, knowing very well that the end user is Hamas. Is such a bank not guilty of Providing Material Support to Terrorism ?
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* Controlled by Hamas, and OFAC-sanctioned in 2010. Also known as National Islamic Bank, Palestine Islamic National Bank, Islamic National Bank Company, and National and Islamic Bank.
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