TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hamas Aid Helps Reassert Its Control

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: January 24, 2009

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas leaders on Friday delivered an envelope with five crisp $100 bills to a veiled woman whose house was damaged during Israel's invasion of Gaza, the first of the relief payments promised by the militant group.

In another part of the territory, a bulldozer cleared rubble and filled in a crater where a week before a top Hamas leader had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Since a truce took hold this week, ending Israel's onslaught, Gaza's Hamas rulers have declared victory and gone out of their way to show they are in control.

They have pledged $52 million of their own funds to help repair lives, the money divvied up by category. The veiled woman received compensation for her two-story home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.

Hamas, thought to be funded by donations from the Muslim world and Iran, has promised emergency relief that would include $1,300 for a death in the family, $650 for an injury, $5,200 for a destroyed house and $2,600 for a damaged house, he said, adding that these are not yet compensation payments, which Hamas promises will follow.

More than 4,000 houses were destroyed and about 20,000 damaged, according to independent estimates.

"We are in control and we are the winner," Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri declared this week, after attending the funeral of four Hamas gunmen.

Israeli strikes, however, destroyed all of Hamas' security compounds and most government buildings. Its top two leaders, strongman Mahmoud Zahar and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have not yet appeared in public.

Israel claims to have killed more than 700 Hamas fighters, while the militants say they lost about 280 armed men.

Beyond the losses, Hamas has a tough choice - whether to keep fighting and drive Gaza deeper into poverty and suffering or remain moderate in exchange for open borders and a measure of stability.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT