Posted on 04/29/25
| News Source: JPost
Israel should cancel the banknotes it knows were transferred to the Gaza Strip to disrupt Hamas's cash dominance and target the wealth it has accumulated, Eyal Ofer, an expert on Hamas’s economy in Gaza, told Maariv on Tuesday.
This aligns with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar's view, after he asked the Governor of the Bank of Israel last week to cancel all 200 shekel bills in order to cripple Hamas's finances.
“Gaza operates as a cash economy,” Ofer explained. “Most commerce in the Strip’s markets, including hundreds of stalls trading humanitarian aid, is conducted in cash, mostly using low-denomination bills of 20 and 50 shekels. These bills pass from hand to hand and wear out so quickly that they often end up torn.”
"Gazan merchants today refuse to accept a significant portion of these bills that have deteriorated to the point of disintegration," he added.
However, the significant sums in the Strip — estimated at about NIS 10 billion — are held in large-denomination bills of 100 and, primarily, 200 shekels.
“These bills were introduced into the Strip over many years, transferred directly from the Bank of Israel to Gaza bank branches, and loaded into local ATM machines,” Ofer said.
“Hamas amassed wealth during the war mainly by collecting protection payments from merchants and UN agencies receiving aid trucks,” he said.
Hamas members, seen riding on the trucks, provided protection services, charging tens of thousands of shekels per truck that Hamas police “secured” against looters.
Ofer noted that Hamas also profited by maintaining control over fuel supplies that Israel allowed Qatar to bring into Gaza from Egypt.
During the ceasefire, tens of millions of liters of fuel were sold at prices ranging from 16 to 24 shekels per liter, rising recently to between 45 and 64 shekels per liter.
Through complete control of Gaza’s wholesale market, Hamas accumulated significant sums in shekels.
“It is difficult to estimate the total wealth Hamas has accumulated, but various assessments, including from security sources, place it at around four to NIS 5 billion shekels during the war,” Ofer said.
He estimated that Hamas had already spent about NIS 1 billion on salaries for its operatives and new recruits. Over time, Hamas has effectively become Gaza’s “shekel bank.”
Gaza’s population receives approximately NIS 150 million to NIS 200 million each month via apps and bank transfers from aid organizations and the Palestinian Authority. However, residents must convert this digital money into physical cash.
“Hamas, which controls the cash market through a network of money changers, supplies these to the public, charging a commission that now reaches as high as 35%,” Ofer said.
Nonetheless, Hamas is believed to still hold a significant amount of cash, mostly in 200 shekel bank notes.