SO THAT IS WHERE THE MONEY GOES...

Why did Hamas attack the Givati forces in violation of a US-UN brokered 72-hour cease fire? Hamas acted as it did, because it thinks it can get away with it. And Hamas thinks that it can get away with it because Hamas is convinced that it will win this war. And as long as Hamas is convinced that it will win this war, it will continue to attack, no matter what its situation is on the ground in Gaza. It will continue to attack Israel no matter what Israel does. As a consequence, there is no way for Israel to disengage. There can never be a ceasefire with Hamas for as long as Hamas is convinced that it will win this war. To understand why Hamas is convinced that it will win, it is necessary to understand first why Hamas is fighting in the first place. Hamas went to war with one goal, to reopen Gaza to the world. Hamas is fighting to open Gaza’s border with Egypt, to end Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza coast, and to reinstate its lines of finance. Today Hamas’s leadership, snug in their multi-million dollar villas in Qatar and well-equipped bunkers under Shifa Hospital in Gaza City are that they will achieve their goal. They will win. And as a consequence, they will not stop attacking Israel. Hamas’s goal of opening Gaza to the world has nothing to do with helping the people of Gaza. Hamas wants open borders so that it can import arms and the means to rebuild its tunnels. It was to open the borders so that it can replenish its coffers. In other words, Hamas’s purpose in fighting this war is to ensure that Hamas can keep fighting. From a financial perspective, it isn’t simply that Hamas is expecting to receive cash payments from Qatar, Turkey, Iran and the Palestinian Authority. Hamas runs Gaza. Hamas is the tax authority.

As Dr. Moshe Elad explained to Globes, Hamas siphons money off every dollar in aid transferred to Gaza because it controls all the aid pipelines. Every dollar of international humanitarian aid to UNWRA and every other organization goes through that pipeline and part of the funds are transferred to Hamas. Hamas taxes all businesses in Gaza. And it taxes all imports. According to Elad, Hamas levied a flat tax of $2000 on every car load of goods smuggled into Gaza from Egypt in addition to 25 percent of the value of every shipment. As a result, all economic activity in Gaza funds Hamas. In other words, as long as Hamas rules Gaza, all aid to Gaza is aid to Hamas. All economic activity is hostage to Hamas. All of Gaza is hostage to Hamas.