How much money Hamas has: the billion-dollar turnover of the Islamic Resistance Movement

How much money does Hamas have? It has always been impossible not to take economic aspects into account when faced with a war, especially if you have an enemy like Israel in front of you which is in thirteenth place in the world ranking of GDP per capita.
In recent weeks there has been much discussion about the surprising action of Hamas on 7 October which attacked Israel like never before, launching around 8,000 rockets since the beginning of the war which have their own cost.
For years, huge amounts of funding have been provided to Hamas, all while UNRWA has estimated that in the Gaza Strip 80% of the population lives in a condition of poverty, with the Palestinian GDP per capita being only 8% of the Israeli one.
These figures clash with the recent statements made to Corriere della Sera by Uzi Shaya, a former Mossad agent who today collaborates with the Tel Aviv government to cut funding for the Palestinian paramilitary movement.
“When I say what their annual budget is, everyone's eyes widen – explained Shaya -.
We only talk about the 360 million dollars that, unfortunately, reached the terrorists from Qatar but, in total, around 2.6 billion arrive in Gaza in a year, yet almost nothing reaches the population.
There is great unemployment, the average salary of a Palestinian in the Strip is 300 dollars a month." Naturally these are figures that still need to be demonstrated, but the outbreak of this new war has turned the spotlight back on the money available to Hamas and, above all, on who provided this funding.
read also What is Hamas, what it wants and who finances it How much money Hamas has According to former Mossad agent Uzi Shaya, Hamas could currently count on a sort of annual budget of 2.6 billion dollars; a monstrous figure especially when compared to the poverty levels of the Palestinian population.
The USA, on the other hand, estimated that by 2022 the assets available to the Islamic Resistance Movement would be 500 million dollars.
“Behind it – wrote Adnkronos shortly after the outbreak of the war regarding the financing of Hamas – are the States that have an interest in preventing any path to peace in the Middle East, Iran and Qatar above all, and other States that over time Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia have contributed in various capacities, all with an anti-Israel approach.
There are powers that deny their involvement, such as Russia and China, who have however opened their taps, even indirectly, in an anti-American way." According to the US State Department, Iran finances Hamas and other Palestinian groups every year with 100 million dollars that reach the militiamen's pockets through shell companies and shipments of precious metals.
The money arriving from Qatar would instead arrive in the Gaza Strip directly in cash and in briefcases, all – as Il Fatto Quotidiano reports – with Israel's consent "under the pretext of supporting urgent infrastructure projects".
“The funds, explain sources familiar with the matter – revealed Reuters and then taken up by Startmag -, are transferred electronically from Qatar to Israel, then Israeli and United Nations officials carry the cash by hand across the border with Gaza”.
A good part of the money available to Hamas comes from taxes on goods coming from Egypt, with the proceeds which according to Euronews would be between "12 and 15 million dollars every month".
Again according to Uzi Sjaya the money "comes from Lebanon and the money also passes through Malaysia, but the real financial center of the terrorists is Istanbul, it is from there that business is managed with great ease thanks to the good relations with the government and with the Turkish companies".
Finally there is the question of cryptocurrencies as supported by the Wall Street Journal: this method of financing would guarantee Hamas millions of dollars every year, with this system also used by Hezbollah and the Jihad Movement.