Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Hamas: US economic turmoil is “divine punishment” | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – A senior Hamas leader says America’s current economic turmoil is “divine punishment.”

Gaza Strip Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh says God is chastising America for its support of a debilitating Israeli-led blockade of the territory.

At a sermon on Friday before Muslim prayers at a Gaza City mosque, Haniyeh said God’s punishment would also extend to America’s allies.

Israel and Egypt closed their borders with Gaza after militant Muslim group Hamas seized power of the coastal strip in June 2007. Only aid supplies, fuel and a trickle of commercial goods are allowed into Gaza, and its 1.5 million residents are mostly trapped in the crowded territory. The blockade has impoverished already poor Gaza residents.