“Still, as Lara Friedman, president of the U.S.-based Foundation for Middle East Peace, which advocates for rapprochement between Israelis and Palestinians,
recently pointed out,
Hamas won a parliamentary majority in what turned out to be Gaza's last election − in 2006 − not on an incendiary platform to "kill the Jews," but as the "party of change & reform."
After years of rule by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' widely unpopular and potentially corrupt Fatah party, "
a vote for Hamas was a vote against Fatah," she said. Fatah and Abbas, with whom Hamas fought a short civil war after the 2006 vote, still control the West Bank, the other Palestinian territory.
[…]
As Gaza has become more cut off from the outside world and aid agencies have warned its on the verge of collapse, there have been rare public shows of discontent in Gaza with Hamas.
Fights have broken out in lines at bakeries, while waiting for water and in overcrowded shelters. There have been
reports of outbursts and insults shouted at Hamas officials.
Before the war, Israeli media published stories of Gazans who had fled the enclave because of threats they faced from Hamas for participating in protests, because they didn't support its approach to Israel or for challenging the way it spent financing from Qatar on rockets and tunnels rather than schools or other infrastructure.
A Gazan worker USA TODAY met in the West Bank last month said that he was not able to return home because Hamas officials were trying to extort money from him.
[…]
"After Oct. 7 we all in Gaza have been (accused of being) Hamas supporters.
In fact, I am not. And I will never be," said
Tareq Hajjaj, a Gazan journalist, in rare public comments about Hamas.
Hajjaj said he knows many Gazans with strong feelings about Hamas who won't speak publicly about it.“
Source:
