Trump's Representative: Iran Spends One Billion Dollars Supporting Terrorists Around Israel's Borders

The U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations states that Iran spends approximately one billion dollars annually to support terrorists around Israel's borders; according to him, one hundred million dollars of this amount is allocated to Hamas in Gaza. Jason Greenblatt tweeted on Sunday, February 4, stating, "Iran spends nearly one billion dollars a year on terrorism in Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza; this blood money only increases violence and does not help the Palestinians at all." He added, "The corrupt Tehran regime spends the resources of the Iranian people on military adventures in the region instead of using them domestically (in Iran) and for promoting peace abroad." This senior U.S. official stated, "Imagine what the people of Gaza could have enjoyed with the one hundred million dollars that Iran gives to Hamas each year, while Hamas spends it on weapons and offensive tunnels against Israel." Jason Greenblatt, who has traveled to Israel and the West Bank multiple times over the past year with Jared Kushner, senior advisor to Donald Trump, was also in Israel last week, during which he visited southern Israel near the Gaza border. According to the news site Ynet, Mr. Greenblatt, accompanied by Israeli army commanders, visited tunnels that Hamas had dug for terrorist activities between Gaza and Israel. After visiting the Israel-Gaza border, he tweeted that Hamas spends about six million dollars to create each tunnel, adding, "Gaza needs options other than Hamas and its paralyzers; it is time to stop pouring money into Gaza for violence and hatred and start a real better future for the residents of Gaza." According to Mr. Greenblatt, "Hamas must improve the lives of the people it governs instead of increasing violence that has worsened the plight of the people of Gaza." The publication of Mr. Greenblatt's tweets regarding the suffering imposed on the people of Gaza by Hamas with Iranian money coincides with increasing reports about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave. Israeli media reported that General Gadi Eisenkot, Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, also presented a report on the situation in Gaza and its effects on Israeli security to the ministers of Benjamin Netanyahu's government during a meeting on Sunday. According to Eisenkot, "No one in Israel wants a new military operation (against Hamas in Gaza), but the situation in Gaza is on the brink of explosion, stemming from the dire conditions of its people and the crisis in relations between Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization." While the Fatah and Hamas movements reached agreements last year for internal reconciliation and transferring the administration of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority with the aim of improving the situation in Gaza, most of the agreements have not been implemented. Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority, has reduced the budget allocated to Gaza in response to Hamas' obstruction of the practical transfer of Gaza to the Fatah-affiliated government. At the same time, international organizations have recently limited their aid to the Gaza Strip; UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which provides food for one million of Gaza's approximately two million residents, has faced resource cuts following the recent decision by the U.S. president. Donald Trump emphasized in his decision to reduce U.S. grants to UNRWA that the Palestinians have never respected the generous American aid that has continued for decades and recently disrespected Mike Pence, the U.S. vice president, who visited the region and was not willing to meet with him. The U.S. and Israel consider Hamas a "terrorist" organization; in recent days, the U.S. also placed Ismail Haniyeh, the new head of Hamas' political bureau, on its terrorist blacklist. However, Hamas has recently expressed interest in improving relations with Iran at high leadership levels; this came after several years of cold relations between them due to Hamas' refusal to participate in the Syrian civil war in favor of Bashar al-Assad. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, recently spoke by phone with senior Hamas commanders in Gaza and sent them a written message; Yahya Sinwar, the internal leader of Hamas in Gaza, said last month that Qassem Soleimani emphasized to him that Iran is ready to provide comprehensive support to Hamas and "resistance" in Gaza.