Blood Money

     
​    Awful as the daily news seemed to be last week,

​...little did any of us dream the nightmare that was coming.

And now the attack on Israel by Hamas, the militant Islamic group that controls the Palestinian Gaza strip, is all my family and friends can talk about. And the words we say don't always even match up with how horrified we are, they're just the words that, in our shocked disbelief, happen to fall from our mouths.
"Those missiles that Hamas used to bomb Israel are expensive, they cost millions," said my husband Tom shortly after we head the news of the bombing. "Why the hell didn't Hamas spend the money on things that would have helped the Palestinian people? Schools, roads, housing, hospitals...why damn missiles?"
But, of course, Tom's question was a heart-breakingly rhetorical one: if, in fact, it was Hamas who paid for their own missiles, the missiles weren’t bought and fired on Israel to in any way help the Palestinian people, any more than was kidnapping 150 Israelis, Including babies, children, and the elderly.
Or murdering them in cold blood.

Helping Palestinians isn't what Hamas has ever done.
In 2005 Israel withdrew its forces and settlers from the Gaza strip, erected a blockade between Gaza and Israel, and left the Palestinian Authority in charge of Gaza and the West Bank.

However, in 2006 the Palestinians voted Hamas into a majority of parliamentary seats. Then in a 2007 civil war Hamas overthrew the Palestinian Authority government in Gaza and took took control of the area, while the West Bank remained under control of the more moderate Palestinian Authority. Hamas renewed its denial of Israel's right to exist, and since then there has never been another democratic election in Gaza.
During the time that Hamas has ruled Gaza, billions of dollars in foreign aid have poured into Gaza for the intended purpose of alleviating the crushing poverty of this tiny area - 25 miles long, 3.5 miles wide at its narrowest, 7.5 miles at its widest - where almost 2 million people live packed closely together. And where many thousands will likely now die.
As for all the billions that were sent to Hamas to sustain the Gaza Palestinians and build up their economy and infrastructure, the pictures say it all.​

       Reference:
       https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/conflict-between-israel-palestinians-gaza-2023-10-07/ 
    
        https://apnews.com/article/business-middle-east-israel-foreign-aid-gaza-strip-611b2b90c3a211f21185d59f4fae6a90​