Hamas's Hidden Economy

By Matthew Levitt

Military insurrections cost money. To take over the Gaza Strip last month, Hamas had to pay salaries, procure weapons, manufacture rockets, buy help from local crime families, bribe opponents, print leaflets and banners, produce media propaganda and even order up Hamas hats and bandanas. How did Hamas fund this Gaza coup? What of the international "economic siege" that Hamas complained of against its government? Wasn't Hamas so strapped for funds that its leaders resorted to smuggling suitcases of Iranian cash into Gaza across the border with Egypt?

Part of the answer lies in -- or rather under -- the city of Rafah, on the Egyptian border. Another part of the answer is the overt funding Hamas continues to receive through its charitable and social welfare wings.

The complete article, which ran in today's LA Times, is available here.

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