Former Shin Bet Official Warns: Hamas Is Making Millions of Dollars Every Day

Three years after the war began, the Hamas terrorist organization continues to maintain effective control over the Gaza Strip, generating millions of dollars in revenue each day and preserving residents’ dependence on it. That was the assessment offered today (Thursday) by Naomi Neuman, former head of the research division at Shin Bet and now a researcher at The Washington Institute, in an interview with Kan News on Reshet Bet.

According to Neuman, Hamas imposes heavy taxes on goods entering the Strip, bringing in between $2 million and $5 million a day. Neuman explained: "Everything that enters the Strip becomes a source of income for Hamas. It confiscates part of the humanitarian aid and sells the products at high prices on the black market."

Through this system, she said, the organization controls how resources are distributed, provides paid services, and serves as the Strip’s main source of employment: "The Palestinian public encounters Hamas every day, and so, from its perspective, Hamas is here to stay."

Neuman explained that Hamas has replaced the formal governing structure with a decentralized system that enables it to exercise authority without bearing public responsibility. Enforcement and policing are carried out by covert units that instill fear, deter residents, and restore its control in areas where governance has collapsed.

Addressing U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative, she said: "In the past, we called this 'hudna' and 'tahdiya'; today, we call it the Trump initiative." Still, she made clear that the plan must move forward despite the obstacles raised by both sides: Hamas demands an Israeli withdrawal first, while Israel makes progress conditional on the organization’s disarmament.

Neuman called for bringing the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and a multinational stabilization force into the Strip, cutting off Hamas’ funding sources, preventing its infiltration of institutions, and establishing independent aid mechanisms. In her view, the Palestinian Authority should eventually become the governing alternative, alongside efforts to prevent Hamas from becoming entrenched in Judea and Samaria.