Despite blockade,Hamas pays full wages to fighters

GAZA, July 15 (Reuters) - Hamas said it paid its security forces in the Gaza Strip their full salaries on Sunday despite an Israeli and Western boycott.

"We were paid a full salary for the first time. Long live Hamas!" an officer in Hamas's 6,000-men Executive Force told Reuters. He declined to give his name.

Israel tightened its economic grip on the Gaza Strip after the Islamist group's violent takeover of the territory on June 14, closing the main crossings to all but humanitarian supplies.

At the same time, Israel reopened the financial taps to the Western-backed emergency government that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas established in the occupied West Bank.

Israel's resumption of tax revenue transfers to the emergency government earlier this month enabled Salam Fayyad, whom Abbas appointed prime minister, to pay Palestinian Authority workers their first full wages in 17 months.

Fayyad excluded from his payroll some 19,000 workers who report to Hamas, including the Executive Force.

Hamas did not say on Sunday where it obtained the money to pay its Executive Force, which played a central role in the factional fighting that culminated in the seizure of Gaza.

Hamas officials said they received their money through banks. Israel has sought to deny Hamas access to banks and a senior Israeli official said: "We're looking into it."

Hamas was able to bring tens of millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip last year through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Rafah has been closed since June 9.

Hamas is believed to use an extensive network of tunnels to bring weapons and money into the coastal strip.