Israel Matzav

Israel to pay Hamas' 'civil servants' salaries?

Gaza is short on yet another commodity and Israel has agreed once again to supply it. The commodity is New Israeli Shekels. Cash only please.

A severe cash shortage gripped the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Monday as tens of thousands of people were unable to withdraw money from banks in the poverty-stricken territory.

Israel promised to transfer more money to Gaza on Tuesday.

But here comes the sob story from Al-AP:

But the shortage highlighted the daily hardships still faced by Gaza's 1.4 million residents despite a June cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that has brought some badly needed relief.

...

Lacking a currency of their own, Gazans use Israeli shekels. But with little new Israeli money entering Gaza, the bank notes in circulation are either being hoarded or have been damaged from overuse.

Bank tellers turned people away Monday, and many automatic teller machines were not working.

"I've been trying to withdraw my salary since yesterday morning. I don't have a shekel in my pocket," said Bassam, a 23-year-old civil servant, who was waiting outside a bank in Gaza City, hoping he could withdraw his salary of 2,000 Israeli shekels ($560).

He declined to give his family name because his salary is paid by Hamas's rival, Fatah, and he did not want to be publicly identified as taking money from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's government.

Two young men standing beside him said they had the same problem.

A statement said Israel would send 72 million shekels ($20 million) to Gaza, in compliance with a request from Abbas's government, to pay the salaries of the civil servants.

Huh? I want you all to understand what this means. We know that Fatah usually pays Hamas' salaries in Gaza:

The new Palestinian government headed by Salaam Fayad will use international aid to pay salaries to all civil servants of the Palestinian Authority, including those who are affiliated with Hamas, PA officials here said Monday.

"The new government is in charge of all the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," said one official. "All those who are on the payroll of the Palestinian Authority will soon receive full salaries."

Another PA official said Fayad's government will allocate millions of dollars to "support the people of the Gaza Strip." He added: "We're not going to give money to the Hamas government there, but we can't ignore the people. We will find ways to channel funds directly to the people."

This means that Israel is paying Hamas' 'civil servants' salaries this month. Could there be anything more absurd?

UPDATE 8:14 PM

In an interview with Army Radio, Minister Yaakov Edri has confirmed my assertion.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:18 PM