Hamas used secret system to pay salaries during Gaza war
Hamas has continued to use a secret cash-based payment system throughout the Gaza conflict to pay thousands of civil servants according to the BBC on August 6th.
Despite the vast military strain and political pressure Hamas is under, they have used this system to pay 30,000 civil servants approximately 20% of their pre-conflict salary.
However, the modest salary still being provided has become a source of tension and resentment among party officials amid soaring inflation, which has led to a kilogramme of flour in Gaza to cost $80.
Severe food shortages, which aid agencies blame on Israeli restrictions, and acute malnutrition are endemic within Gaza, and the salaries provided are negligible compared to the inflationary pressures and humanitarian suffering in the region.
There is no operating banking system in Gaza, which means receiving the salary is an arduous and often risky process, with Israel being able to regularly identify Hamas salary providers.
Employees, which include police officers, tax officials and schoolteachers, typically receive an encrypted message telling them to go to a specific location to “meet a friend for tea”.
At the location, the employees are approached by a man – or sometimes a woman – who discreetly hands them a sealed envelope containing their salary before disappearing.
It is a task fraught with danger, considering on several occasions, Israeli strikes have targeted salary distribution points.
Alaa, whose name has been altered to protect his identity, is a schoolteacher who has been employed by the Hamas-led government. He said: “I received 1,000 shekels (about $300) in worn-out banknotes – no trader would accept them. Only 200 shekels were usable.”
“After two-and-a-half months of hunger, they pay us in tattered cash”.
Hamas is already under huge international pressures to disarm and withdraw from Gaza, with the UK recently pressing Arab nations to agree to this condition. Domestic pressures could be more difficult for Hamas to confront.
The group has already fuelled public anger through its distribution of food parcels to its members and their families via emergency committees. The group has also proceeded to levy taxes on traders for the purpose of revenue.
Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, has himself urged for the disarmament of Hamas and called for measures to stop Hamas from governing Gaza.
Many of the Gazan population accuse Hamas of prioritising aid for their supporters instead of the wider population, and seemingly the efforts by Hamas to still pay salaries is not prompting support among the people.
BBC, Maghrebi.org
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