Hamas controls ATMs, cash, and the humanitarian aid trucks
Official PA TV:
Hamas controls the ATMs and therefore "there is a lack of cash in the markets"
Hamas controls "the number of trucks, where these trucks are arriving, the destination of the trucks, and the people who enjoy the contents of these trucks"
"More than 150 [aid] trucks [a day enter Gaza], and what is [actually] distributed is 20 trucks"
Hamas’ control of the residents in the Gaza Strip seems to know no limits. A PA TV reporter in Gaza reported that Hamas now also controls the ATMs and that residents can’t get cash to purchase goods:
Official PA TV reporter in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza: “The residents are in a difficult mental state due to the lack of cash. We as PA public employees cannot receive our salary that has arrived in the banks because the people with influence are acting as if the ATMs are their family’s private property, and the armed people (i.e., Hamas) are doing the same. We have no possibility of reaching the ATMs. There is a lack of cash in the markets. There are goods being offered at reasonable prices, but there is no cash to purchase them.”
[Official PA TV, April 24, 2024]
Similarly, the PA TV journalist reported earlier that Hamas also controls what happens with the 150 humanitarian aid trucks that arrive daily with food and other necessities, and that only 20 of these trucks reach the general population:
Official PA TV reporter in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza: “When we speak about the entry of more than 150 [humanitarian aid] trucks [a day to Gaza], and what is [actually] distributed is 20 trucks, then there is a missing link. Some of those with power in the Gaza Strip (i.e., Hamas) control the number of trucks, where these trucks are arriving, the destination of the trucks, and the people who enjoy the contents of these trucks.”
[Official PA TV News, April 14, 2024]
These reports add to what Palestinian Media Watch has already published, that Hamas even kills aid workers and steals food for itself.
Hamas war on Israel October 2023 - At least 1,200 Israelis, including over 1,000 civilians, were murdered and over 4,800 wounded, in addition to approximately 244 who were abducted into the Gaza Strip (including 110 later released or liberated and at least 26 later killed), in a Hamas terror war that began when approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists broke through Israel's security fence at the Gaza Strip border and launched a surprise attack, taking control of several Israeli towns and attacking a music festival on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which fell on the Sabbath, Oct. 7, 2023. During the massacre, the terrorists tortured, raped, shot, beheaded, and burned their victims alive, murdering entire families and leaving at least 21 children without parents. Hamas terrorists also fired at least 5,000 rockets at Israeli population centers. In response, Israel launched the Swords of Iron War to counter the Hamas terror threat. Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon joined Hamas' terror war starting from the following day, attacking Israel from the north. Occasional rocket launches and shootings continued from Lebanon throughout the war. A ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal began on Nov. 24, 2023, in which Israel agreed to release 150 terrorist prisoners, pause drone surveillance in the Gaza Strip, and allow movement between the northern and southern Gaza Strip, in return for 50 Israeli female and child hostages held by Hamas. The deal was subsequently extended with additional releases, until Hamas violated the agreement and resumed attacking on Dec. 1, 2023.