The taxes have been collected amid an economic boom in the Gaza Strip.
Officials said Hamas, flushed with foreign aid, has been constructing public
housing as well as government offices.
[On Dec. 2, two Palestinian gunmen were reportedly killed along the
Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, Middle East Newsline reported. The attackers, killed by air and ground
fire, were said to have been preparing to assault a nearby Israeli kibbutz.]
Officials said the taxes were imposed by Hamas in mid-2010 and included
an eight percent levy on income. Gasoline, sold at highly subsidized prices,
has been slapped with a 32 percent tax.
Hamas has also imposed fees on all imports, including those
smuggled through tunnels from neighboring Egypt. Officials said the regime
also charged a 10 percent charity tax in accordance with Islamic law.
Officials said the regime plans to construct 25,000 housing units in
Beit Lahiya, Gaza City and Khan Yunis, including areas vacated by Israel in
2005. Most of the units were expected to comprise of high-rise buildings.
"We have no land to spare," an official said.
Officials said Hamas would assign preference for the apartments, priced
at between $25-$40,000, to members of the security forces and the movement's
political wing. This would be followed by the families of casualties in
operations against Israel, who would be eligible for loans by Islamic
associations. The associations have been funded by such Gulf Cooperation
Council states as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
So far, construction has been hampered by lack of gravel in the Gaza
Strip. Collectors, particularly the Abu Varda family, have been seeking
gravel everywhere, and were said to have crushed runways at the former
airport at Dahaniya in southern Gaza.
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