(Paris) Shelled in the Gaza Strip for two months by Israel, Hamas is suffering the blow, but remains standing: it should continue to benefit from sufficiently numerous and varied sources of financing to continue the war for a long time to come.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to annihilate the Palestinian Islamist movement, author of the October 7 attack, the most violent in the country’s history. The result is some 250 hostages, of which some 130 are still detained, and around 1,140 dead, mainly civilians, according to Israel.
But if this military objective alone already seems difficult to achieve, reducing its revenues to zero is a challenge.
“Hamas is financially solid,” assures AFP Jessica Davis, president of the Canadian group Insight Threat Intelligence. “For ten years or more, they have established a resilient financing network” with investments and sources of income in many countries without being worried.
Among these sources are “small businesses and real estate”, in countries like Turkey, Sudan or Algeria, she adds.
Hamas also relies on an informal network of donations. He “became very good at developing a complex system of exchange offices via Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, but also Europe, the United States,” explains Yitzhak Gal, economics specialist Palestinian for the Israeli institute Mitvim.
However, the number of donors has not necessarily decreased since October 7. “Despite its atrocities, Hamas seems to have gained support internationally, among segments of the population who perceive it as a vanguard of resistance,” underlines Lucas Webber, co-founder of the specialized site Militant Wire.
Over the past two months, 18,787 people, 70% of them women, children and adolescents, have been killed by Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
“Who lives, who dies”
For years, the group’s major support has been in Tehran. Estimates put Iran’s annual contribution at between $70 million and $100 million, via a patchwork that combines cryptocurrencies with suitcases of cash, via some foreign banks and the informal “hawala” fund transfer system. .
Iranian aid in military equipment came, according to Mr. Gal, via smuggling from Egypt and the tunnels dug between Gaza and the Sinai desert, which are now blocked.
Beyond that, since 2006 and its victory in the elections, Hamas has confiscated power in Gaza, making the distinction between money intended for the population and that which finances its political and military branches obsolete. “Everything that comes in goes to Hamas and they decide who lives and who dies,” says Yitzhak Gal.
Of the 2.5 billion dollars in the Gaza Strip’s budget, 1.1 billion would come from the Palestinian Authority – with Israel’s agreement, he specifies.
The international community itself finances UNRWA, the UN agency for aid to Palestinian refugees. As for Qatar, it pays the salaries of civil servants, such as doctors and teachers, and pays 100 dollars per month to the 100,000 poorest families in Gaza, for a total of 1.49 billion between 2012 and 2021, according to Doha.
“The infrastructure will always be there”
In 2021, the gas-rich emirate, which houses the political leadership of Hamas on its territory, reported an annual amount of $360 million.
“Without exception, Qatar’s aid is coordinated with Israel, the American government and the United Nations,” a Qatari official reminded AFP. Even aid in kind – food, medicine, gasoline – went through Israel. On Monday, the Qatari diplomat responsible for negotiating the release of the Israeli hostages, Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, indicated that the windfall would continue.
The future ? In October, Washington took sanctions against ten “key members of Hamas” and the West is considering coercive measures. But drying up Hamas will probably be impossible.
“The prospect of complete long-term destruction of one’s finances is not realistic,” notes Jessica Davis. “You can disrupt it, remove key players, reduce sources of funds. But the infrastructure will still be there. As long as the group has support, they can be called upon again.”
Yitzhak Gal refers to the political issue. No one knows what will happen to this small territory of 2.5 million inhabitants stuck between Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean.
“When the war stops and normal life resumes, the question will be: does this financial system resume or does it change? “, he summarizes.
“Gaza today is a large refugee camp. Who will be in charge of providing food, water and shelter to these refugees? Hamas or another organization, another mechanism? »