Armed gangs, including Hamas-backed groups, have plundered at least $120mn from banks in northern Gaza in just the past two months, according to UN estimates, as the war-ravaged strip suffers from a severe cash crunch.
The thefts amounted to at least a third of the cash stored in stranded vaults, according to mid-May estimates seen by the Financial Times.
About $240mn more is sealed in bank vaults in northern Gaza, some entombed in concrete to try to prevent looting following the collapse of civil order in the besieged enclave.
The robberies have fueled concerns among Israeli officials that some of the funds could further fuel Hamas’s insurgency as the militant group gains control of scarce banknotes in the besieged enclave’s closed wartime economy.
The conflict and Israeli restrictions on the movement of cash and armoured cars have limited the availability of physical money.
Residents must pay a fee a week in advance to even join the queue for a cash machine in central Gaza, one of a tiny handful of functioning machines left for the strip’s more than 2mn people.
The thefts came as Gazans, most of whom live in poverty, struggle to find banknotes to buy essential supplies as inflation spirals following eight months of war.
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@FrogJonnyDemocrat2yrs2Y
Those concerned about potential famine in Gaza need to pay attention to what is happening on the ground, or more accurately underground, to the billions in humanitarian aid, and to the profiteering that continues to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to support Hamas.
Israeli soldiers are finding huge stores of food meant for Gazans, stockpiled by Hamas, which demands large protection from anyone selling in the market.
@GiraffeRodSocialist2yrs2Y
It's not clear to my why Hamas isn't accused of weaponizing starvation. Palestinian suffering serves the political interests of one group only, and that's Hamas and its leadership.
@PeskyF3deralistPatriot2yrs2Y
Hamas runs the undergrounds or black market. They take the food dropped into Gaza and sell it at horrendously high prices. The US diplomatic class is naive and constantly outwitted by the enemy.
What is Hamas doing for the people of Gaza? What is Hamas doing to feed the people of Gaza? What is Hamas doing to shelter the people of Gaza? The U.S. just completed building a floating pier to get aid into Gaza from the sea - Hamas launched rockets and forced the closing of a land route for aid so how long until Hamas starts launching rockets at that pier?
Why am I not hearing about the people of Gaza renouncing and denouncing Hamas?
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