Hamas Can't Pay Bills, But Still Pushes For Jihad

Hamas once again has set its priorities. It would rather fund its jihad than pay its bills - like the employees on its payroll:

Clerks in the Gaza Strip on the Hamas payroll are complaining that they have not been paid for month of January, even though nine days have passed since the payment deadline, the London-based Al-sharq al-Awsat reported Tuesday.

According to the report, the clerks fear that they will not receive their salary because Hamas is encountering problems in smuggling funds through the tunnels between Sinai and the Gaza Strip. Sources described as well-informed confirmed that the Hamas government has a cash flow problem.

Furthermore, Palestinian sources said that the Islamist movement is issuing salaries in a number of rounds, the first of which is for employees earning under $300. The payment for the other workers has been put on hold for the time being.

A senior element in the Hamas finance ministry in Gaza said that the reason for the salary delay is a problem with technical procedures. He confirmed that the clerks were divided to a number of groups according to their salary level, and said he hoped the ministry would be able to pay the employees by the end of the month.

The report further stated that the Hamas government needs $16 million each month in order to pay the salaries of 34,000 employees and military branch members. In the beginning of the year the government approved a $540 million budget, $30 million of which were earmarked to "support Jerusalem."

How exactly is Hamas paying its bills? It's operating the smuggling tunnels and getting kickbacks on those illicit activities since it can't control the border crossings with Israel to the same degree. Hamas is little more than an organized criminal syndicate in that fashion, and governance is the furthest thing from its mind. That it provides some basic services is only so that it can continue its terror operations and indoctrinate another generation of kids into the jihad against Israel and the West.