Hamas Maintains Secret Salary Payments to 30,000 Gaza Employees Amid Conflict

Despite nearly two years of conflict severely weakening Hamas's military capacity and leadership, the group continues to maintain a secret, cash-based payment system to pay around 30,000 civil servants in Gaza, totaling about $7 million in salaries. These payments, made every 10 weeks, amount to just over 20% of pre-war salaries, and are distributed via encrypted messages directing recipients to covert cash pick-up points, often under dangerous conditions due to Israeli strikes targeting payment couriers. The financing for these salaries comes from a combination of pre-war cash reserves stored in tunnels, local taxation, inflated product sales, and external support mainly from Qatar and Iran. The limited payments, amid soaring inflation and severe food shortages attributed to Israeli restrictions, have led to growing discontent among civil workers who also face acute malnutrition and economic hardship. Israel’s efforts to disrupt Hamas's governance include targeting salary distributors to weaken the group’s operational cohesion and administrative control. This clandestine payment network reflects Hamas's resilience and complicates Israel's objective to dismantle the organization, while raising concerns for future reconstruction efforts in Gaza due to potential diversion of funds.