2024-01-15T06:28:53+00:00
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/ A report by the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth spoke of “iron discipline” among Hamas fighters despite 100 days of battles with the Israeli army and a huge budget to cover war expenses that reached 40 billion dollars.
Yesterday, Sunday, the Israeli war in Gaza entered its 100th day, with continued clashes and rocket firing, and in light of fears of the expansion of the war throughout the region.
The newspaper pointed out in a report that “iron discipline” still exists among the soldiers, but the Palestinian movement has lost its leadership in the field and control of the Gaza Strip during the 100 days of battles.
The newspaper’s report indicated that Hamas returned to a pattern of action reminiscent of the movement in its beginnings: it lost about a third of its fighters, many others were injured, and most of the weapons and launching equipment in the northern Gaza Strip were destroyed.
However, most of the armed activists survived without surrendering as the organization’s leadership did.
Yedioth Ahronoth added: “In many ways, Hamas has returned to a mode of action that reminds us of the beginnings of the movement, between the years 1987-1994, in those years when the Israeli army still controlled the Gaza Strip and persecuted the organization’s activists everywhere and at any time.” “.
She added: “Then they worked in small groups, each of which included a number of armed men, who would sometimes attack Israeli army soldiers or settlers. To a large extent, Hamas returned to its old dimensions.”
In this context, a revised draft of the 2024 budget in Israel showed that the budget deficit is expected to rise from 2.25% to 6.6% of GDP during the current year.
Later, government ministers will begin discussing a revised budget that will include large spending to finance the war that Israel is waging against the Palestinian Strip. A vote is expected to be held on Monday morning.
According to the draft budget, the war that began on October 7 will lead to a decline in economic growth for the current year by 1.1 percentage points, after expected losses of 1.4 percentage points last year.
The financial impact of the war is estimated at about 150 billion shekels ($40.25 billion) in the period 2023-2024, assuming the intense fighting ends in the first quarter of this year.
The deficit recorded last December amounted to 33.8 billion shekels ($9 billion), compared to 18.5 billion the previous year, as spending on the war amounted to 17.2 billion shekels, while tax revenues declined by 8.4%.
Last month, lawmakers approved a war budget for 2023 amounting to about 30 billion shekels.
Last Wednesday, Governor of the Central Bank of Israel, Amir Yaron, urged the government to adhere to financial discipline and compensate for the planned spending through cuts in non-essential areas while increasing some taxes.
He estimated that the Gaza war would cost 210 billion shekels for defense purposes and compensation, other than lost income, for residents near the Gaza and Lebanon borders, who were displaced by cross-border rocket fire over a period of months.
The deficit exceeded the 3.7% estimated in the revised budget approved last month. Before the war, the deficit was 1.5% of GDP in September.