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Revealed: Palestinian Authority Shows That Hamas Steals Money From Gaza Civilians
Palestinians gather to receive aid, including food supplies provided by World Food Program (WFP), outside a United Nations distribution center, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
How ironic is it that while the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided last week to blame Israel for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is placing the blame on Hamas.
A reporter from official PA TV stationed in the Gaza Strip reported that Hamas steals 28% of Gazans’ salaries, as well as other money transfers:
Official PA TV host: “There are other crimes that are being committed against the civilians [in Gaza]. They are being financially extorted through [Hamas’] deduction of part of their money.
In other words, every employee, whether he is a PA employee, a state employee, or works for any other source, or someone who even wants to receive a transfer from his relatives abroad — they must pay a heavy sum…” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Nov. 13, 2024]
Later in the story, a PA reporter revealed that the sum was 28% of employees’ salaries:
Official PA TV reporter in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza: “There is no trade in cash. The cash is worn out in the central and southern areas [of the Gaza Strip], and even in the north.
The [only] ones who have cash are certain groups. If you want to receive your salary in cash of more or less good quality, they [Hamas] deduct part of your salary. The deducted sum is 28%. They deduct more than a quarter of the salary.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Nov. 13, 2024]
An editorial by the official PA daily also criticized Hamas for continuously stealing the humanitarian aid that Israel is letting in for the benefit of Gazan civilians:
The aid that is arriving there [in the northern Gaza Strip] after many hardships … is exclusively controlled by the Hamas militias and others, until it arrives in the greedy free market of commerce that craves forbidden profit. [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 10, 2024]
The editorial pointed out that the survival of the Gazan civilians is no longer connected to “surviving the missiles of the Israeli fighter jets,” but is simply a struggle of “seeking a loaf of bread at a sane price”:
The suffering of our people in the northern Gaza Strip is no longer the suffering of surviving the missiles of the Israeli fighter jets and drones and is not the suffering of seeking refuge, rather it is the suffering of seeking a loaf of bread at a sane price, and a cigarette at the cost of 1 [Israeli] shekel. [emphasis added]
Throughout the 2023 Gaza war, Palestinian Media Watch has exposed Hamas’ unscrupulous theft of international aid meant for Gazan civilians, turning the humanitarian efforts into terror support to sustain its war against Israel.
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Revealed: Palestinian Authority Shows That Hamas Steals Money From Gaza Civilians 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.