The secret system that Hamas uses to pay public salaries in Gaza

Several people hold pans to fill with food in a help distribution site, with a woman in the middle dressed all in visibly annoying and crying. — Photo foot, Scenes like these have led to the condemnation of Israeli restrictions to help deliveries.

- Author, Rushdi Abualouf
- Author's title, Gaza correspondent from Istanbul, BBC
1 hour

After almost two years of war, Hamas's military capacity is seriously weakened and his political leadership is under intense pressure.

However, during the war, Hamas has managed to continue using a secret cash payment system to pay the salaries of 30,000 officials, who amount to a total of US $ 7 million.

The BBC has spoken with three officials who confirmed to have received almost US $ 300 each in the last week.

It is believed that they are among the tens of thousands of employees who have continued to receive a maximum of just over 20% of what their salary before the war represented every 10 weeks.

In the midst of galloping inflation, this symbolic salary – a fraction of the total – is causing a growing resentment among the faithful of the party.

The serious food shortage – which humanitarian aid agencies attribute to Israeli restrictions – and the increase in cases of acute malnutrition continue in Gaza, where in recent weeks a kilogram of flour has come to cost up to US $ 80, a historical maximum.

Without banks

Palestinians seek among the rubble of their devastated houses some belonging that can still be used after the Israeli air attack that aimed several homes.

Without an operating banking system in Gaza, it is difficult, and even dangerous, to receive the salary.

Israel regularly identifies and attacks Hamás salary distributors, seeking to disturb the administrative capacity of the group.

Employees, from police officers to farm officials, usually receive an encrypted message on their phones or those of their partners in which they are told to go to a specific place at a specific time to “meet with a friend to have tea.”

At the meeting point, a man – or sometimes a woman – approaches the employee and discreetly gives him an envelope sealed with money before disappearing without more interaction.

An employee of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Hamas, who prefers not to reveal his name for security reasons, described the dangers involved in collecting his salary.

“Every time I'm going to collect my salary, I say goodbye to my wife and children. I know I might not return,” he said.

“On several occasions, Israeli attacks have reached salary distribution points. I survived one that aimed at a busy market in the city of Gaza.”

Alaa, whose name we have changed to protect their identity, is a school teacher used by the Hamas government and the only support of a family of six members.

“I received 1,000 Shekels (about US $ 300) in spent tickets; no merchant accepted them. Only 200 Shekels were usable; with the rest, honestly, I don't know what to do,” he told the BBC.

“After two and a half months of hunger, they pay us with worn money.

“I am often forced to go to the aid distribution points in the hope of getting flour to feed my children. Sometimes I get home to take a little, but most of the time I do not get it.”

Palestinians with pots and containers meet while a charity distributes food in Az-Zawayda, Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, where access to food is still difficult due to blockade and the constant attacks of Israel. — Photo foot, Gaza scarcity makes prices even the most basic products in the clouds.

In March, the Israeli army claimed to have murdered Hamas's head of Finance, Ismail Barhoum, in an attack against Nasser hospital in Jan Yunis. He was accused of channeling funds to Hamas's military wing.

It is not clear how Hamas has managed to continue financing wages, given the destruction of much of its administrative and financial infrastructure.

A Hamas official, who held high positions and is familiar with the financial operations of the organization, told the BBC that the group had accumulated approximately US $ 700 million in cash and hundreds of millions of Shekels in underground tunnels before the deadly attack of October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, which triggered the devastating Israeli military campaign.

These attacks were allegedly supervised directly by the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, and his brother Mohammed, both since then dejected by the Israeli forces.

Outrage for reward to Hamas supporters

The Qassam brigades, the Military Wing of Hamas, during the delivery of two Israeli hostages to the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) as part of the February Exchange Agreement — Photo foot, It is believed that most of the financing of Hamas's armed forces comes from Iran.

Historically, Hamas has been financed with high tariffs and import taxes to the population of Gaza, in addition to receiving millions of dollars in support of Qatar.

Qassam brigades, Hamas's military arm that operates through an independent financial system, are mainly financed with Iranian funds.

A high position of the proscribed Muslim brothers, based in Egypt and one of the most influential Islamist organizations in the world, has stated that about 10% of its budget also allocated Hamas.

Two children walk next to a damaged vehicle and without exploding within a Military Complex of Hamas turned into a refuge in Gaza, on April 19, 2025. — Photo foot, Despite the precarious conditions of the population, Hamas continues to charge taxes.

To generate income during the war, Hamas has continued to impose taxes on merchants and sold large amounts of cigarettes at inflated prices, up to 100 times higher than its original price. Before the war, a box of 20 cigarettes cost US $ 5, a figure that now exceeds US $ 170.

In addition to cash payments, Hamas has distributed food packages to its members and their families through local emergency committees, whose leadership broken frequently due to repeated Israeli attacks.

This has fed public outrage, and many residents of Gaza accuse Hamas of distributing help only to their supporters and exclude the general population.

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing the help that entered Gaza during the high fire earlier this year, something that Hamás denies. However, BBC sources in Gaza have claimed that Hamas appropriated significant amounts of help during that period.

Nisreen Khaled, a widow who stayed in the care of three children after the death of her husband for five years ago, told the BBC: “When hunger got worse, my children cried not only with pain, but also to see our neighbors affiliated with Hamas to receive food packages and flour bags.”

“Are they not the cause of our suffering? Why didn't they get food, water and medicines before embarking on their adventure on October 7?”