Israel Transfers $13 Million to Gaza

Israeljustice.com
25 March '11

http://www.israeljustice.com/news2.asp?key=198

JERUSALEM -- In a grass roots attempt to influence the government of Israel, a human rights organization has urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to stop the transfer of $13 million in cash and other goods into the Gaza Strip this week.

"The government should reconsider its steps in this issue and should show responsibility towards its citizens," The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel said in a letter to Netanyahu on March 23. "It isn't possible to expect that pressure on Gaza will produce results while at the same time allowing the residents of Gaza to maintain a normal life at the time that the lives of residents in Ashdod and Beersheba have become not normal and Gild Shalit is still in captivity."

The Bank of Israel transfers cash at least once a month from bank accounts in Ramallah into the Gaza Strip. The money is transported in Brinks armored trucks which pass through the Israel-Gaza check points. Government sources said part of the money is to pay the wages the wages of UNWRA personnel in Gaza.

Officials at the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories [COGAT] said that the funds are transferred straight into the bank accounts of UNWRA personnel who are active in humanitarian causes. Officials said that UNWRA is instrumental in distributing food in Gaza.

"The fact that the State of Israel is concerned for the population in Gaza and allows [the transfer] of cash and other goods, is entirely illogical in the wake of the fact that the Hamas leadership in Gaza permits attacks with Grad rockets on Israeli cities," The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel said. "Is it logical that Israel permits the transfer of funds into the Gaza Strip, when there is a reasonable suspicion that the money is used for purchasing weapons against us."

Unofficial sources said that the cash is deposited into two separate banks in Gaza. They said that some cash is deposited into the Postal Bank to pay salaries to military and security officials, including to the PA police.

Cash is also deposited into the Islamic Bank in Gaza and to the Arab Bank to pay salaries for 20,000 to 30,000 Fatah members on the PA payroll and some Hamas members on the PA payroll.

But the cash has a very short shelf life as Hamas is constantly raiding the banks, forcing some banks to close up business. "The Palestine Islamic Bank in Gaza City suspended operations after Hamas raided the financial institution and grabbed $16,000," Middle East Newsline reported on June 28, 2010. "The money [from Israel] was said to have been deposited in the account of the Educational Teaching Society, frozen by the bank several days earlier. This marked the third Hamas raid of Palestinian banks in the Gaza Strip during 2010. Several months earlier, the Bank of Palestine was attacked by Hamas troops, who made off with $280,000 from a deposit held by a Hamas-dominated charity."

Sources said that the cash is quickly dissipated as it is used to pay the tunnel smugglers from Egypt into Gaza for weapons and other commodities. The sources also said that Hamas smuggles out the cash through the tunnels back into the West Bank.

"Hamas has been under sanctions from both the European Union and United States. The sanctions ban any bank transfers to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip, which has been struggling to pay its more than 30,000 civil servants for much of 2010," Middle East Newsline said. "In May [2010], Palestinian gunmen entered the Arab Bank and demanded $400,000 in tax proceeds destined for the Palestinian Authority, expelled by Hamas in 2007. The Arab Bank, with 500 branches in 30 countries, was identified as one of the last financial institutions that operated under international standards. The Arab Bank, the second largest financial institution in the Gaza Strip, has already dismissed hundreds of employees and closed two branches. Executives said the Hamas raids have jeopardized the banking system."

Nachi Eyal, Director General of The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel said that the Supreme Court has already rejected two petitions filed against the cash transfers. Eyal said the public can't rely on the courts at this juncture. "What we need now is public pressure," Eyal said. "About a year ago, we tried to stop the Brinks truck carrying the money into Gaza at the crossing point but the truck just swerved off the road and continued."

Unofficial sources said that the $13 million will be transferred on March 27 in two Brinks trucks.

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