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Source: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-finances-fighters-payments-gaza-f98df760
Hamas Can't Pay Its Fighters
(Wall Street Journal) Summer Said - After Israel blocked aid to Gaza that Hamas had been seizing and selling to raise funds, and after it targeted Hamas officials who played important roles in distributing cash, salary payments to many Gaza government employees have ceased, while many senior Hamas fighters and political staff have received only half of their pay. "There is a big crisis in Hamas in terms of getting money," said Moumen Al-Natour, a Palestinian lawyer from Shati in central Gaza. "They were mainly dependent on humanitarian aid sold in black markets for cash." The reduced payments are making it harder for Hamas to bring in new recruits. Israel's currency is legal tender in Gaza, which hasn't received new shekel bills since the fighting began 18 months ago. Many of Gaza's 56 bank branches and 91 ATMs have been destroyed or rendered out of service over the course of the war.