Hamas decided to reject a tranche of Qatari aid funds at the end of January, accusing Israel of imposing new conditions on the money entering the Gaza Strip.
It took the Hamas leadership about a month to understand that it had made a grave mistake. Surprisingly, the movement’s seasoned, broad-based leadership thought it could find an alternative to the aid Qatar has been supplying the Strip since October 2018.
Hamas must have reasoned that the funds it has been using to pay thousands of its employees were making it took as though the movement was selling out the hallowed jihad or unable to administer Gaza and take care of its residents. After the rejection, a temporary compromise was reached under which the UN transferred $9.4 million as humanitarian aid. The Qatari aid money to the Gaza Strip administration was thus transformed into aid money for needy Palestinian families — a bit of a euphemism given that most of the Strip’s two million residents are in need.
As it usually does, Hamas decided to fix its mistake by heating things up with Israel. The group went back to launching incendiary balloons and escalated violent demonstrations on the border fence. The number of Palestinian casualties has climbed after weeks of Egypt urging it to avoid escalation and wait until after Israel’s April 9 elections to complete the long-term cease-fire deal that has been months in the making. However, growing shortages have increased pressure on the Hamas leadership. How can one ask thousands of civil servants to wait for their pay until after Israel deals with its domestic political affairs?
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