Gaza Strip - Earth movers dig into sand dunes on land where once Jewish settlements stood — prime real estate that the Gaza Strip’s ruling Hamas group hopes will ease its worsening financial crisis.

Hamas has begun handing out plots of the land to 40,000 civil servants loyal to the Islamic militant group, to make up for millions of dollars in salaries it owes them for the past two years.

The land giveaway is the latest sign that Hamas is struggling financially after almost a decade of uncontested power in the coastal strip.

Gazans grumble about lack of jobs, constant electricity shortages and a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt that has confined the territory’s 1.8 million people to the tiny strip. The World Bank says unemployment is 38 percent.... Read More: VIN