Hamas Leaders Rake in Billions, Condemn Palestinians to War
Nov 7, 2023 3:21:38 GMT -5
Post by maybetoday on Nov 7, 2023 3:21:38 GMT -5
Hamas Leaders Rake in Billions as they Condemn Palestinians to War in Gaza
JOEL B. POLLAK
6 Nov 2023
The leaders of the Palestinian terrorist group known as Hamas have become multi-billionaires over the past two decades, as they launch wars in Gaza from a safe distance in Qatar and Turkey, and condemn their own people to poverty and misery.
According to the Israeli embassy to the U.S., the leaders of Hamas — an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement — “line their pockets” with money while Gazans depend on international assistance, and must suffer Hamas’s period wars against Israel.
While enjoying their wealth in comfortable exile, Hamas sends terrorists to launch rockets against Israel — or, as on October 7, to embark on missions to kill or kidnap as many Israelis as possible. Hamas officials know they will be safe from the fighting.
The Times of Israel noted last month:
Senior Hamas figures, including [leader Ismail] Haniyeh, would levy a 20 percent tax on all of the trade passing through the tunnels, according to a 2014 report in Ynet, an Israeli news site.
…
[Haniyeh’s] lavish [real estate] holdings contrast sharply with endemic poverty in the Gaza Strip, where some half of the population is unemployed, and per capita GDP was around $5,600 annually in 2021, making it one of the poorest places in the world.
…
On December 30, 2022, the Saudi news website Elaph … claimed that Maaz, and other sons of the Haniyeh family, drink alcohol abroad and spend time with women other than their wives in luxury nightclubs. Elaph also reported that Haniyeh’s children own generators, and sell electricity, a rare commodity in an area under constant power shortages, while they themselves get it for free.
The UK Daily Mail elaborated:
In the years since taking control, the group’s leaders have profited off the misery of the Gazan people.
…
According to German news outlet Bild, there are four Hamas officials who have grown particularly wealthy over the years – the trio of Abu Marzouk, Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniyeh – as well as a fourth named Younis Qafisheh.
…
German tabloid Bild reports that [Haniyeh] often jets between Tehran, Istanbul, Moscow and Cairo in his private jet to meet leaders in friendly nations, and two of his sons Maaz and Abdel Salam are often seen in Instagram posts lounging on hotel beds in Istanbul or Doha.
The Biden administration is trying to pressure Israel to “pause” its war against Hamas, claiming the need to move more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip — aid that amounts to a small fraction of the Hamas leaders’ collective wealth.
link
JOEL B. POLLAK
6 Nov 2023
The leaders of the Palestinian terrorist group known as Hamas have become multi-billionaires over the past two decades, as they launch wars in Gaza from a safe distance in Qatar and Turkey, and condemn their own people to poverty and misery.
According to the Israeli embassy to the U.S., the leaders of Hamas — an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement — “line their pockets” with money while Gazans depend on international assistance, and must suffer Hamas’s period wars against Israel.
While enjoying their wealth in comfortable exile, Hamas sends terrorists to launch rockets against Israel — or, as on October 7, to embark on missions to kill or kidnap as many Israelis as possible. Hamas officials know they will be safe from the fighting.
The Times of Israel noted last month:
Senior Hamas figures, including [leader Ismail] Haniyeh, would levy a 20 percent tax on all of the trade passing through the tunnels, according to a 2014 report in Ynet, an Israeli news site.
…
[Haniyeh’s] lavish [real estate] holdings contrast sharply with endemic poverty in the Gaza Strip, where some half of the population is unemployed, and per capita GDP was around $5,600 annually in 2021, making it one of the poorest places in the world.
…
On December 30, 2022, the Saudi news website Elaph … claimed that Maaz, and other sons of the Haniyeh family, drink alcohol abroad and spend time with women other than their wives in luxury nightclubs. Elaph also reported that Haniyeh’s children own generators, and sell electricity, a rare commodity in an area under constant power shortages, while they themselves get it for free.
The UK Daily Mail elaborated:
In the years since taking control, the group’s leaders have profited off the misery of the Gazan people.
…
According to German news outlet Bild, there are four Hamas officials who have grown particularly wealthy over the years – the trio of Abu Marzouk, Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniyeh – as well as a fourth named Younis Qafisheh.
…
German tabloid Bild reports that [Haniyeh] often jets between Tehran, Istanbul, Moscow and Cairo in his private jet to meet leaders in friendly nations, and two of his sons Maaz and Abdel Salam are often seen in Instagram posts lounging on hotel beds in Istanbul or Doha.
The Biden administration is trying to pressure Israel to “pause” its war against Hamas, claiming the need to move more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip — aid that amounts to a small fraction of the Hamas leaders’ collective wealth.
link