Hamas is suffering a financial crisis due to the three-year-old international ban on transferring funds to the terrorist authority. Successful lawsuits obligating Hamas to pay out millions of dollars in compensation for terror victims have compounded its financial problems.
One sign of the severity of the crisis was the recent Hamas robbery of an Arab bank, netting the de facto Gaza government nearly $1 million that was designated for humanitarian aid.
Israel continues to open Gaza crossings on a daily basis for shipments of food and commodities to Gaza.
Hamas has hiked utility rates and tacked on new taxes for fuel and other commodities in an effort to raise its level of cash. Two of its prime sources of income are the tunnel smuggling systems, whose operators are heavily taxed, and black market trading in currency.
It also receives money that originates with Israel, which collects taxes for the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority. The PA in turn sends the money to Gaza for its employees.