Hamas tunnelsReport: Hamas spends $100 million annually to build up its military infrastructure
Hamas spends an annual $100 million on its military infrastructure in order to prepare for its next war against Israel. Roughly $40 million is spent on employing around 1,500 diggers to build the Iran-backed terror organization’s network of tunnels. Despite the financial hardships experienced by Gaza residents, Hamas, which in 2014 had a budget of around $530 million, is intent on increasing its military spending. In addition to digging tunnels, it hopes to upgrade its capabilities, which were degraded during its war with Israel two years ago, and is seeking to develop more precise rockets that could evade Israel’s Iron Dome defensive shield.
Hamas spends an annual $100 million on its military infrastructure in order to prepare for its next war against Israel, Avi Issacharoff of The Times of Israel reported on Thursday.
Roughly $40 million is spent on employing around 1,500 diggers to build the Iran-backed terror organization’s network of tunnels. Wages for the excavators range from $250 to $400 a month, a high salary for Gaza, which has a high unemployment rate. Diggers also receive bonuses for meeting deadlines, and more experienced diggers are paid higher salaries.
Despite the financial hardships experienced by Gaza residents, Hamas, which in 2014 had a budget of around $530 million, is intent on increasing its military spending. It hopes to upgrade its capabilities, which were degraded during its war with Israel two years ago, and is seeking to develop more precise rockets that could evade Israel’s Iron Dome defensive shield.
To support this effort, Hamas, which Issacharoff observed is “an Islamist terror group avowedly committed to destroying Israel,” has improved its smuggling network to obtain weapons and rocket materials. This May, Israeli authorities uncovered a smuggled shipment of four tons of ammonium chloride concealed in 30 tons of salt. The compound can be employed both as a fertilizer and in the production of rockets. The Israel Tax Authority stated that those four tons could have been used to make hundreds of long-range rockets. “This case underscores the activity of Gaza-based terrorist organizations in smuggling dual-use materials disguised as goods destined for the civilian population and reconstruction projects,” the authority concluded.
Later that month, Israel intercepted another shipment of materials that could be used in the construction of rockets and terror tunnels.
Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold announced in May that Hamas is confiscating 95% of cement that enters Gaza. “From our own investigations we found that out of every 100 sacks of cement that come into the Gaza Strip [from Israel], only five or six are transferred to civilians,” he stated. Hamas uses the cement to build and expand its network of tunnels.
