GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas authorities have been burning piles of narcotics and cannabis in a yearly sweep against drugs in the beleaguered Gaza Strip.
Officers in military fatigues on Oct. 22, 2018, poured gasoline and set alight more than 1 million tablets of opioid painkiller tramadol, about 1,500 slabs of hashish, and 900 grams of opium.
Hamas security forces stand guard during an incineration Oct. 22, 2018, of drugs seized in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. The cache destroyed was estimated to be: 1,383 slabs of hashish, 1.242 million pills of the opioid tramadol, and 900 grams of opium. (The Associated Press/Adel Hana)
With residents suffering under a decadelong Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the militant Hamas took power, authorities say drug use has grown among Gaza’s 2 million residents as people look for an escape from harsh living conditions, soaring unemployment, and travel restrictions.
Hamas officials said they are fighting the drug epidemic relentlessly. On Oct. 22, 2018, Hamas sentenced 17 people convicted of drug trafficking to hard-labor prison terms of 10 years to life.
In 2017, Hamas legislators endorsed the death penalty to curb drugs.
