As Gazans find themselves in abject poverty, IDF uncovers 5 million shekels in home of senior Hamas member

IDF troops found two suitcases filled with a total of 5 million shekels (more than $1 million) while searching the home of an unnamed senior member of Hamas in Jabaliya in northern Gaza.

In addition to the money, the IDF also found a large assortment of weapons.

According to Israel Defense Forces, the large cash sum was equal to the total amount of money found by the Israeli military in Gaza during the entire first month of the war.

Arab-Israeli advocacy activist Yoseph Haddad wrote that the discovery once again proves that Hamas does not take care of the needs of its citizens in Gaza and that senior Hamas leaders do not share their wealth with its impoverished population.

“At a time when most of the residents of Gaza don’t have enough money to buy even minimal food – 5 million NIS cash was found in the house of a senior Hamas official. Hamas doesn’t care about the residents and doesn’t care about Gaza – they use their civilians as tools in an attempt to destroy the State of Israel!” Haddad wrote on X.

The Hamas terror group is wealthy, according to a 2022 World Bank report. Its Gross Domestic Product per capita in Gaza was estimated at $1,257, approximately one-fourth of the estimated $4,458 GDP per capita in Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank.

Hamas leadership has accumulated fortunes worth billions of dollars, with the three top leaders – Ismail Haniyeh, Abu Marzouk and Khaled Mashal – having amassed a combine $11 billion. I

According to Globes, at the end of last year, more senior Hamas officials moved out of Gaza to luxury hotels in Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey and live in extravagance. Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas inside Gaza, also reportedly has a fortune estimated to be between $1-$3 million.

The New York Post reported that Haniyeh, a father of 13, is worth more than $4 billion. According to Globes, “Haniyeh's children own generators, and sell electricity inside Gaza, a rare commodity that they themselves get for free.” One of his sons, Maaz Haniyeh is known as “the father of real estate” in Gaza for his collection of villas and buildings.

Until recently, Hamas leadership lived lives of affluence and luxury in Qatar but recently left Qatar and fled to unknown destinations after the Israeli government announced it would hunt them down and eliminate them.

The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) announced that Qatar supports Hamas with between $120 million and $480 million per year.

“These funds benefit Hamas leaders directly through payroll and kickback schemes and indirectly through social services and government operations that help Hamas maintain political control over Gaza,” the report stated.

The president of the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Yigal Carmon said that Hamas and Qatar are indistinguishable.

“Qatar is Hamas and Hamas is Qatar,” Carmon said.