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Hamas Leaders Make Billions While Killing Israelis and Impoverishing Palestinians
Israeli soldiers inspect the entrance to what they say is a tunnel used by Hamas terrorists during a ground operation in a location given as Gaza, in this handout image released Nov. 9, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
The ironies of “social justice” leftists supporting Hamas — a group of self-proclaimed genocidal jihadists — are indeed endless.
“Colonizer!” is one of the leftists’ favorite words to shout at those they’re told to hate, including Israel. The fact that Arab countries have historically been big colonizers — and that the main intent of Hamas is global colonization in the form of a caliphate — are merely inconvenient truths.
Then there’s the fact that followers of Sharia law have a well-documented history of throwing gay people off of rooftops, “honor killing” women who don’t obey the hyper-patriarchal codes, and enslaving and persecuting minorities. Indeed, one could argue that the only two things truly shared by some leftists and jihadists is a fondness for dead babies and unthinking conformity.
But perhaps the most humorous cognitive dissonance is that these neo-Marxists are willing to be jailed for supporting billionaires who rule over an impoverished group of people. It’s Jihadi Marxism: empower the rich, pampered and privileged, while their people starve and are used as human shields. Stalin would certainly have approved.
Hamas’ three top leaders alone are worth a stunning $11 billion, enjoying a life of luxury in the sanctuary of Qatar. Hamas runs an “office” in Qatar’s capital, Doha, and leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Mousa Abu Marzook, and Khaled Mashal maintain an opulent lifestyle that Western jet-setters would envy.
Qatar provides Hamas with between $120 million and $480 million per year, according to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD). “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,” according to its October report.
Iran is believed to provide Hamas leaders with a $100 million expense account. Hamas earns an estimated $450 million annually from Gaza’s black market trade. Hamas leadership controls an investment portfolio at close to $1 billion, with assets in Sudan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.
Hamas also took in nearly $400 million in the last two years from the United Nations, which does not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has provided Hamas with $380 million since 2021, according to the FDD. Much of that cash came from the Biden administration, which has provided $1 billion to UNRWA since 2021.
Hamas leader Haniyeh, a father of 13, is worth more than $4 billion. His son Maaz Haniyeh is known as “the father of real estate” in Gaza for his collection of villas and buildings. He lives a playboy lifestyle in Turkey.
Marzook, 72, is estimated to be worth $3 billion. And Mashal, 67, who issued a global threat against Jews after the October 7 atrocities, is worth more than $4 billion.
Lebanese newspaper Al-Majlah reported in 2021 that Mashal and his deputy, Mousa Abu Marzouk, used international aid funds to build a valuable collection of real estate holdings in Egypt, Qatar, and the Persian Gulf, while Marzouk controls ten large companies that deal in finance.
The presence of Hamas leaders in Qatar has long been justified by the emirate as part of its support for turning the terror group into “a responsible governing power,” according to the FDD. But Qatar is also one of the most important military bases for the US in the Middle East.
In the wake of October 7, US Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) is sponsoring a bill that would strip Qatar of its status as a key US ally unless it kicks out the Hamas leadership. “As Hamas terrorists continue to wreak havoc on the lives of innocent Israeli civilians, the United States must ensure there is no ally supporting them. Sadly, the State of Qatar is still funding and supporting Hamas as its leadership enjoys political refuge in Doha,” said Ogles.
Qatar is also home to the Al Jazeera news channel, which the FDD alleges “spreads anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, and incitement to violence throughout the Arab world.”
No doubt Arab funding for academia (already at $8 billion) will soon focus on the creation of a new course: Jihadi Marxism. Of course, self-declared Marxists have a proven track record of resorting to mass repression and genocide. But for so many leftists today, facts, history, truth, are all so annoying. Better to just repeat what’s trending and focus on getting the best jihadi selfies.
Karen Lehrman Bloch is editor-in-chief of White Rose Magazine. A version of this article was originally published by The Jewish Journal.
The post Hamas Leaders Make Billions While Killing Israelis and Impoverishing Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.