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Hamas Must Be Drained of Its Money as Well as Its Weapons
(Times of Israel) David Horovitz - Hamas is manifestly playing the U.S. and playing for time. It is recruiting, training, and awaiting a more anti-Israel American administration. It is awaiting a resumption of funding from the Iranian regime. The success of the U.S.-led effort to marginalize Hamas and gradually change the face of Gaza requires genuine Hamas disarmament, ongoing and relentless elimination of Hamas operatives preparing and attempting to carry out attacks, and a heightened focus on Hamas's finances. According to the Mitvim think tank, Hamas retains the ability to tax and loot aid supplies entering Gaza to the tune of $2 million a day. It is essential, therefore, that the yet-to-be-deployed International Stabilization Force fully control the entire aid distribution process. Mitvim researcher Yitzhak Gal told Army Radio on Monday that Hamas, in agreeing to relinquish civilian governance to the Board of Peace's National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the intended interim technocratic government, is playing the U.S., since it has ensured that the hierarchies through which this committee would seek to operate are staffed by Hamas and its loyalists. In June, the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate warned that Hamas was producing hundreds of explosive devices and anti-tank missiles every month, recruiting fighters aged 18-22, and restarted training for members of its Nukhba force. Hamas is also trying to smuggle in drones and communication devices from Sinai, and is working to rebuild its underground infrastructure.