‘Hamas gambled with our lives’: Gazans are now daring to speak out

AMMAN, JORDAN; RAMALLAH, WEST BANK; AND GAZA

Across the Gaza Strip – from markets to evacuee camps to social media channels – Palestinian frustration and anger with Hamas is on the rise.

Complaints began with Hamas’ apparent disregard for Gaza civilians who faced the brunt of Israel’s punishing military response to the Oct. 7 attack while Hamas fighters remained in tunnels.

Now, with starvation, profiteering, and internal chaos on the rise, the militant group that has ruled the strip for 17 years is nowhere to be found.

“We did not choose to be in a war that takes us from our homes, [takes] the lives of loved ones, and puts our lives in a death game that we knew nothing about,” says Bisan Nateel, a youth organizer for a local Gaza nongovernmental organization.

“Hamas didn’t warn us or give any instructions to protect or help people. I don’t know what they were thinking or what they expected people to do, but this is unacceptable for everyone in Gaza,” says Walid, an aid worker in central Gaza who declined to use his full name. “I feel that Hamas gambled with our lives at stake, and lost.”

Rafaat Naim, a Gaza businessman and former member of the Palestine Chamber of Commerce, says prior to the war, support for Hamas among Gaza residents was already limited. “Hamas’ popularity in the Gaza Strip was waning, due to its governance failures [and] misallocation of funds,” he says. “The devastating impact of the conflict further entrenched this sentiment.”

The anger that has been simmering since the early days of the war, meanwhile, has only in recent weeks come to the surface. These are not organized calls or political protests against Hamas, but conversational complaints growing louder by the day. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor