During the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces uncovered documents and receipts totaling thousands of dollars from the purchase of luxury jewelry by the son of the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.
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The receipts reveal further evidence of the depth of the disconnect between senior Hamas officials and the residents of the Gaza Strip and the class gaps between the leadership and the people, the IDF spokesman said in presenting the documents on Thursday.
The seized documents were studied by Israeli intelligence officials. According to the IDF spokesman, the amount of money shown on one receipt is equivalent to almost two years' salary for the average Gazan resident. In one of the raids, receipts were seized indicating the purchase of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from stores in the Gaza Strip and Qatar.
According to the German Bild newspaper, the fortune of Ismail Haniyeh is estimated at about $2.5 billion, although he claims that he lives only on olive oil and za'atar. Haniyeh, father of 13 children, lives in hotels in Qatar and Turkey, and flies on private planes among Tehran, Istanbul, Moscow and Cairo. The Israeli embassy in the US estimates his fortune at $3.2 billion dollars, and there are also estimates that he has in his possession $4 billion dollars.
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Receipt for diamonds purchased by the son of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
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More receipts for diamond purchases by son of Hamas leader
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Moaz Haniyeh, the son who signed the receipts, moves between Gaza and Turkey and carries a Turkish passport, just because he is "the son of" the powerful Hamas official. He invests in real estate in Turkey, and in Gaza he is known as "the father of real estate" because he owns several apartments, villas and buildings in different areas of the coastal strip. An article about him was published in the Saudi newspaper Ilaaf a year ago, titled: " Moaz Haniyeh - a life of extravagance, alcohol and women."
Ismail Haniyeh's sons dominate the real estate industry in Gaza. They also have electric generators with which they sell electricity to the residents of Gaza, while they receive it for free. In Gaza, they say that Haniyeh's sons are considered alcoholics and revelers, who usually party in the most luxurious clubs accompanied by women who are not their wives.
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Maoz Haniyeh [urchased tens of thousands of dollars in diamonds
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Meanwhile, in the face of the wealth of Hamas leaders who are abroad, unusual documentation published Thursday morning reveals how crowds of Gazans gather outside the UNRWA headquarters in Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip, asking for food and basic products. The spokesperson for UNRWA in Gaza warned this week that the needs in the Gaza Strip are very great due to the arrival of winter. He called for clothing and blankets to be brought in in large quantities, and said that the aid being brought into Gaza at the moment is "a drop in the ocean".
Because of this, more and more residents of Gaza are standing openly in front of journalists' cameras speaking clearly against the conduct of Hamas in the Strip. One of them, an elderly woman who was asked to describe the situation, was recorded in a video as she answers the reporter's question and explains how the humanitarian aid that enters the Strip does not reach the residents at all, and goes only to Hamas. "All the aid goes to them, to their homes, they take it. They also shot me, and did whatever they wanted to me," she said.