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Hamas Funds Gaza Regime With Taxes, Help From `Islamic Friends' 

Hamas, the party that rules the Gaza Strip and launches rockets at Israel, has a message for its Palestinian residents: Thank you for smoking. Cigarette taxes are among the few sources of income Hamas has left.

Unlike the Palestinian government it replaced last year, Hamas gets no aid from the U.S. and the European Union, which consider it a terrorist group. Israel, which collects customs duties on imports into Palestinian lands, refuses to turn them over to Hamas. Sales taxes also have plummeted because Israel blocks goods crossing into the Mediterranean seaside redoubt.

So Gaza's government is funding its schools, bureaucracy and rocket-launchers from other sources, including fees on license plates, birth certificates and the like; taxes on smuggled cigarettes

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• Hamas Funds Gaza With Taxes, `Islamic Friends' Help (Update1) 

Hamas, the party that rules the Gaza Strip and launches rockets at Israel, has a message for its Palestinian residents: Thank you for smoking. Cigarette taxes are among the few sources of income Hamas has left. . . .

So Gaza's government is funding its schools, bureaucracy and rocket-launchers from other sources, including fees on auto license plates, birth certificates and the like; taxes on smuggled cigarettes and other items that get through the blockade; and aid from Islamic and Arab allies. . . .

Hamas also receives funds from Islamic charities in other countries, via Gaza banks it controls or through underground tunnels from Egypt to the border town of Rafah. . . .

The tunnels provide revenue in other ways. Cigarettes smuggled through them are taxed -- $3 a pack, increasing the price to $5.

``Hamas tax collectors chase around smugglers,'' said Ziad Al-Aloul, 37, who holds the franchise for importing the Lucky Strike brand into Gaza. ``Legal importers like us can't get cigarettes in because, even without the siege, if Hamas tried to tax them, Israel would block the imports'' of tobacco.

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Veteran reporter recounts surreal scene of Gazans streaming unhindered into Egypt 

Gaza is a small place, and news spread quickly Wednesday that the border fence was knocked down before dawn. Pretty soon, I was caught up in a traffic jam as people raced to Rafah in buses, cars, motorcycles. Some even rode bicycles and donkey carts. . . .

Cigarettes, which ordinarily sell for about $1.90 a pack in Gaza City, soared from an initial 80 cents on the Egyptian side of Rafah to $2.70 at their peak.

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Lieberman's cigar test  

While MKs from all the parties crowded into the Knesset cafeteria to watch the television broadcasts from Annapolis, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman pushed aside the sign that bans smoking in the sitting room at the end of the main auditorium. It was clear he did not care a bit about the controversy over the joint declaration's content. . . .

Lieberman is not a sucker. After Annapolis, as before, he is in no hurry to leave the government. As long as he calmly smokes his cigars, his friends in the West Bank settlement Nokdim can relax.

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• In Gaza Cigarettes are More Expensive than Shrimps  

All of a sudden Gaza has become the most expensive place on earth for tobacco, and today cigarettes are more expensive than shrimps and caviar, Abu Nadi says, while cupping his hand over a match to light his rolled cigarette.

Prices soared after the deposed Hamas government decided to tax cigarettes, resulting in the price of a packet of cigarettes climbing from NIS 100 to NIS 200.

By charging 60 to 70 percent tax on the second packet, cigarettes have become an excellent source of income for Hamas, which has found itself completely isolated in Gaza by Israel and the outside world since taking over the coastal enclave last June. . . .

merchants have placed stands at every corner where they sell packaged cigarettes at insane prices, leaving at least 70% of smokers buying loose tobacco and rolling their own cigarettes.

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• Gazans Forced to Cut Back on Smoking  

Skyrocketing prices - a result of Israel's economic sanctions on Gaza following the Hamas takeover in June - have pushed cigarettes out of the reach of many smokers.

In a tension-filled place where a pack of Marlboros is a badge of manliness and smoking is common, even in hospitals and elevators, many are now forced to face their addiction.

Some have quit, while others are reluctantly cutting back, cursing Israel for keeping most cigarettes out and the Hamas government for clamping high taxes on whatever gets through.

Mahmoud Zahar, a stern Hamas ideologue and physician, said he's not moved by the smokers' complaints.

``We are very happy about their suffering,'' said Zahar, pointing to the obvious health and financial benefits of the cigarette shortage.

In the Shati refugee camp near Gaza City, supporters of Hamas' rival, the defeated Fatah movement, said such disregard for people's feelings is eroding support for the Islamic militants.

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From cigarette sales to smuggled cash, Hamas cuts every corner to beat boycott 

The Islamic militants who violently seized control of Gaza are selling confiscated cigarettes, smuggling cash through underground tunnels and auctioning off government vehicles to make ends meet in the face of a global economic boycott.

No bank will deal directly with Hamas, so it's making deals with moneychangers and merchants to receive funds from Iran, Arab countries and Islamic charities abroad . . .

Gaza smugglers interviewed by The Associated Press said Hamas has moved aggressively to take control of a network of tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt - a key method of bringing cash and weapons into the fenced-in territory.

Also, Hamas sold off thousands of confiscated cartons of contraband cigarettes in July to raise revenue

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• Gaza: Smokers fume over rising prices 

Price of cigarettes in Gaza has doubled since Hamas hiked taxes, and smokers aren't pleased. 'If all the smokers vote in the elections, Hamas is going to bite it,' one smoker says . . .

Smokers in Gaza have another reason for concern. The price of cigarettes has soared in the last few months. Why? Because Hamas decided that cigarette taxes would be an excellent source of income for Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's government.

With cigarettes out of their price range, many smokers are turning to the old standby: Tobacco and rolling papers.

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Cigarette ends found in prison food  

The Nafah committee for Palestinian Prisoners' rights issued a report on Monday stating that Israeli soldiers manning the Howwara detention camp, located near Nablus city in the northern part of the West Bank, are dumping Cigarette ends in the food given to the Palestinian political detainees.

According to reports the committee received from the detainees, the Israeli soldiers have previously dumped dirt, sand and human waster in the provided food.

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Gaza closures chaotic, but catch contraband 

A Palestinian customs inspector carried an armload of cigarette cartons he had just seized from a Palestinian traveler at the Gaza-Egypt border and dropped them in a room for confiscated goods.

For European monitors stationed at the border's Rafah terminal, such scenes are proof that the Palestinian-controlled crossing, Gaza's only gateway to the world, is operating properly. They say contraband is caught in meticulous checks -- though they acknowledge they can't stop the flow of cash to the Hamas-led government. . . .

The most popular contraband is cigarettes, with 3,000 to 5,000 cartons seized every day, a German customs inspector said. Only two cartons are allowed per person, but with cigarettes costing 10 times as much in Gaza as in Egypt, the temptation is overpowering.

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• The International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company contributes to humanitarian relief efforts in Lebanon and Palestine 

Aiming to console the Lebanese and Palestinian people the International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC), recently sent generous donations to war struck Lebanon and Palestine, as contribution to the ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in both countries.

The gesture solidifies ITCs role as a firm that steps forward to share in the alleviation of hardship faced by fellow Arabs, The donations will be used to provide medical aid and food to the Lebanese and Palestinian people who have been deprived of these two very basic needs as a result of the ongoing wars that ravage their countries. The funds were gathered by the firm's management its team, and a partner company who all felt it their duty to work towards relieving some of the sufferings felt by their Lebanese and Palestinian brethren. . . .

Taking its act of goodwill a step further, the management of ITC also sent out a fully equipped ambulance to Lebanon. The ambulance was purchased by the firm for the purpose of transporting injured war victims.

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These donations are our modest way of responding to the devastation that war has brought upon both the Lebanese and Palestinian people, as they have been deprived of their very basic right to safety. This act of good will comes in compliance with His Majesty King Abdullah II's vision for helping citizens in need.
Mr. Samer Fakhouri, general manager of Lebanon's International Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (ITC), on the Indian company's donations of medical aid, food and an ambulance to Lebanon and Palestine.

Struggling to survive without salaries, Palestinians make do with less 

Buying on credit. Selling gold dowries. Forgoing tobacco and other small pleasures.

With their salaries weeks overdue and savings depleted, Palestinian families are finding creative ways to survive the Hamas-led government's deepening financial crisis. . . .

The financial crunch follows the January legislative election victory of Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel's destruction. After the new government was sworn in last month, the Palestinian economy, already battered by five years of fighting with Israel, took a turn for the worse. . . .

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Israel will transfer millions of dollars to Palestinians, but threatens later payments 

Last week, the Palestinian government failed to pay its monthly salaries because its coffers are empty. Continuing failure to meet the payroll could lead to widespread layoffs and ignite violence in already volatile areas.

As the Palestinians scrambled to find enough cash to keep afloat, the Palestinian attorney general said Sunday that senior officials in the authority may have stolen billions of dollars of public funds.

Attorney General Ahmed Al-Meghani told a news conference that his office is investigating dozens of corruption cases involving companies with ties to the Palestinian Authority.

"I cannot count the numbers because I'm not an accountant. It might be billions of dollars. When I end my investigation, I'm going to outline all the numbers in detail," Al-Meghani said.

He said 25 suspects have been arrested and international warrants have been issued for 10 others who fled the area. He declined to identify the suspects because the investigation is proceeding, but he said the probe included the Palestinian oil, tobacco and broadcasting corporations.

Government corruption was a major factor in Hamas' decisive victory over the long-ruling Fatah party in Jan. 25 Palestinian elections.

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Palestinian Leader Has Heart Procedure 

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas left an Amman hospital Thursday, smiling and saying he felt fine hours after undergoing a successful heart procedure.

"Things are just fine and I'm in very good health," Abbas, 69, said as he left the hospital dressed in a black suit. . . .

Asked whether he had quit smoking, Abbas answered with a smile: "Since when have you seen me smoke? I'm not a smoker."

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The Interregnum 

This national coherence and democratic aspiration combine to explain why, on Arafat's death, the Palestinian public pivoted from Arafat to Mahmoud Abbas and why it did it so smoothly. More than four years into their latest violent conflict with Israel, Palestinians drew together behind Arafat's longtime No. 2, Abbas, who turns 70 this month, as one of the few national figures remaining . . . .

While Abbas is conciliatory in trying to achieve his principles, he is certain about the principles themselves. He did not much want his new job and told me he planned to keep it for only a year or two, maybe three. He comes across as entirely confident and in command, even a little supercilious. When he wants to smoke -- and he often does -- his practice is to tilt a cigarette tip into the air and wait for an aide to snap to with a lighter. [This graph only]

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