Gaza Blockade Tightens; Qatari Dollars Only Thing Left For Hamas To Launch At Israel

“I suppose we could light the money on fire beforehand, which would be an apt symbolic act.”

Gaza City, September 25 – More effective implementation of restrictions on the movement of goods and people into and out of this coastal territory has resulted in a shortage of rockets and other weapons with which to target the Jewish State, a spokesman for the Islamist group that governs the strip admitted today, limiting the organization’s arsenal of projectiles to the wads of cash that Doha provides each month.

Fawzi Balsaq of Hamas lamented to journalists and human rights workers Wednesday morning that Israel’s almost complete control over what enters and exits the Gaza Strip now prevents the Islamist movement from augmenting its inventory of missiles, incendiary devices, explosives, bullets, mortar shells, and firearms, such that all that remains to launch at Israel is the meager quantity of American dollars left over once Hamas’s leadership has distributed the monthly allotment from Qatar to its loyalists and embezzled much of the rest.

“We used to have an impressive stockpile of explosive and incendiary materials, and any number of ways to deliver them,” complained Balsaq. “But we have been, shall we say, zealous in our use of those items, and now we have maybe a few days’ worth of inventory at current expenditure levels. I’m not only talking about bombs, mortar shells, bullets, and rockets, but even helium, balloons, and plastic sheeting for making kites to carry the firebombs. We’re even low on rocks, if you can believe such a thing, because we’ve chucked them all over the border fence.”

“Now all we can do is take wads of twenty- and one-hundred-dollar bills and fling them at Israeli soldiers,” he continued. “I suppose we could light the money on fire beforehand, which would be an apt symbolic act.”

Qatar provides millions of dollars each month to Hamas for distribution to the Gaza Strip’s neediest residents, but in practice the funds also find their way to other destinations. Israel allows most consumer goods into the territory through the Kerem Shalom crossing after inspecting shipments for contraband, while Egypt keeps the Rafah Crossing closed much of the time. The latter’s destruction of numerous smuggling tunnels between Gaza’s Rafah and its Egyptian counterpart has hampered the efforts of Hamas and its Islamist allies to stockpile munitions and some luxury goods, with US dollars from Qatar the only consistent supply.

Experts voiced doubts that the situation will not escalate, but disagree in what way it will. “If they can find a way to send back as a weapon the electricity Israel provides, they will, but I don’t see Hamas developing that technology anytime soon,” commented Handat Fitzhugh. “Some of my colleagues believe we will see more efforts to develop new explosives, but I see things going in a different direction.”

Israeli defense officials assured citizens they would intercept any incoming cash and not allow it to reach them.

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