The IDF today (Thursday) revealed a broad intelligence infrastructure that points to an organized method that Hamas has formulated to exploit the humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip for its organizational and military needs.
In a statement issued by the IDF spokesman, it was stated that the information was based on a comprehensive analysis of a wide variety of intelligence reports, some of which the IDF chose to disclose.
The data shows that since the beginning of the war, Hamas has defined itself as the entity responsible for distributing aid in the Gaza Strip, while actually taking control of goods, products, and funding channels, while exploiting international aid organizations.
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Thus, during the war, Hamas terrorists joined aid trucks covertly or openly, with the aim of boycotting and taking control of the aid entering the Strip.
The IDF detailed four main mechanisms that Hamas used:
Boycott of humanitarian aid - Hamas regularly allocated between 15% and 25% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip. The goods were transferred to terrorists or sold at exorbitant prices. Documents that were revealed indicate that the percentage of allocation changed throughout the war according to the organization's internal assessment of the situation.
Smuggling of prohibited goods - Hamas smuggled products such as cigarettes into the Gaza Strip, forbade merchants from selling them, and distributed them in the market itself at exorbitant prices. In light of this, it was decided not to allow cigarettes to be brought in aid shipments. Security inspectors thwarted dozens of attempts to smuggle tobacco products at the crossings.
External compensation mechanism - According to estimates, Hamas received hundreds of millions of shekels from outside the Gaza Strip, including Iran, through the hawala mechanism via operatives in Turkey. Hamas demanded that aid purchased with this money be brought into the Gaza Strip, and then sold it at exorbitant prices and received cash.
Enabling protection - The organization operated a mechanism of economic extortion in the Gaza Strip, collecting taxes and protection fees from local businesses, and taking over civilian commercial activity.
Economic damage following the cessation of aid
According to an IDF statement, the halting of aid last March, directed by the political echelon, resulted in severe economic damage to Hamas. Among other things, the organization was forced to reduce and even temporarily stop paying salaries to its activists.
At the same time, the IDF, through the Military Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency, formulated a new process to increase oversight of aid. The mechanism includes registering aid organizations, checking contents, customs processes, improving inspections at crossings, and formulating a sanctions procedure against organizations that deviate from the established conditions.
The IDF notes that the resumption of aid is currently being carried out through compounds operated by international organizations, under the security of the American civil society (GHF), in a way that prevents Hamas from having direct control over the distribution. The food packages are distributed directly to residents.
""The method and intelligence information that are now being revealed are clear proof to the entire world: the Hamas terrorist organization only cares about its survival and its ability to harm the citizens of the State of Israel. Hamas is cynically exploiting the residents of the Gaza Strip.".
""The IDF will continue to allow the operation of the distribution complexes in a controlled and transparent manner, while making every effort to ensure that humanitarian aid does not reach Hamas. This is clear proof that Hamas is not acting for the benefit of the residents of Gaza, but only to preserve its power and harm the State of Israel.".
