Israel is killing us. But Hamas is exploiting our deaths
Palestinians carry their belongings as they flee areas north of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip on 12 October 2024
‘Anonymous, Gaza’ writes in Haaretz on 14 October 2024:
GAZA – There is a great similarity between the residents of Gaza and the Israelis being held hostage by Hamas. Both are victims of failed leadership, having to contend with a fate they have not chosen.
The Israeli hostages found themselves in an instant underground, in a way reminiscent to the captivity residents of Gaza have experienced at the hands of Hamas for 18 years, during which they have been brainwashed with an ideology of ruin, leading us to destruction.
The similarity between the hostages on both sides is striking: the two leaders have no intention of rescuing the victims; using the hostages as an excuse for continuing warfare, sacrificing them for their own political considerations.
Hamas claims to be the representative of the Palestinian people, presenting the October 7 terror attack and the ensuing war as benefiting the nation. But Hamas does not represent us, and since 2010 its rule is illegitimate. It sees our blood as fuel for its political ambitions and as a means of imposing its rule over all Palestinian territories. Its insistence on clinging to power in Gaza is causing the deaths of an enormous number of Palestinians.
We, the residents of Gaza, understand the suffering of the Israeli hostages better than anyone else in the world. They, like us, have been deprived of the most basic of rights: to decide our fates. They are being held captive underground while we are hostages above ground, in the big prison of Gaza.
We suffer from the war like they do, paying the price for an insane and lethal adventure. The only difference between us is the size of the area we are held in and its location.
I wish for the release of the Israeli hostages to the same extent that I wish for my own liberation. I call on the world to relate to us just as it relates to them, as hostages, and save us from both the brutality of the Israeli occupation and from our Hamas kidnappers. This will only happen by exerting great pressure on our kidnappers and on Israel’s government so that they stop colluding against Gaza, and finally let us decide our own fate.
There is no atonement for the evil of a reality in which our kidnappers live comfortably in their palaces in Doha while we live in tents. If our kidnappers lived in tents, the war would have long been over. They don’t value our lives, as stated by senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad: “Even if Israel kills 100,000 of us, we won’t stop; that’s our winning card.” For them, we are bargaining chips. Israel kills us and they exploit our deaths in order to gain points and influence international opinion.
It’s a dirty game. On the one hand, we are victims of a bloody occupation by Israel, and on the other, of an autocratic organization, claiming to be a liberation movement. What’s more, Hamas is backed by some of the most tyrannical regimes in the world.
After a year of combat, Hamas does not pose a real threat to Israel, however, the Israeli army has not managed to end the organization’s rule over Gaza. Hamas still has a considerable number of weapons in its possession, and uses them to intimidate the civilian population. Lately, Hamas has hardened even more its methods of oppression.
Hamas militants kidnap regime opponents and torture them. My friend Amin Abed’s limbs were broken with steel bars, after he criticized Hamas on the media. My friends in the southern Gaza Strip tell me that Hamas no longer operates freely in the area, but it’s rebuilding itself under the moniker “popular committees,” so it can protect its assets and monitor marketplaces.
The truth is, their objective is to deter residents from conveying critical opinions and to suppress their opponents. A friend of mine who lives in a tent in Deir al-Balah told me how masked men from the “popular committees” broke into a neighboring tent, shot one of its occupants, and fled. He also saw them abduct a passerby and push him into a vehicle. It was later discovered that they murdered him and threw his body out of the car.
Here, in the northern Gaza Strip, Hamas security services recently summoned people I know and interrogated them about their social media posts on Facebook. They confiscated their cellphones and threatened them with brutal punishment if they posted again. There are known cases of executions over dubious suspicions. A week ago, they shot a man on a street in the Jabalya refugee camp for alleged “collaboration” with Israel.
There are several reasons why it is difficult to eliminate Hamas’ rule. The organization still controls civic life in Gaza, paying salaries to tens of thousands of employees. Those employees live in dread, fearing the end of Hamas rule. As a result, they are forced to protect Hamas, which is the source of their livelihood, even though some of them don’t belong to the organization.
It is impossible to terminate Hamas’ rule without taking care of the thousands of employees that depend on the group. In addition, a different organization must be appointed to handle the distribution of humanitarian aid, since Hamas still controls this network, and sells some of the aid that reaches Gaza.
In markets, one can see numerous items included in humanitarian convoys offered for sale, though it is difficult to document this fact due to the tight control wielded by Hamas militants.
Hamas is exploiting the utter chaos prevailing in Gaza right now. Residents are offered neither solutions nor hope, and, consequently, are forced to yield to Hamas in order to survive. In the present situation, it’s evident that people will choose Hamas over chaos.
Hamas will not surrender and will continue to sacrifice Gazans to their last drop of blood. Israel too will not stop its war as long as Hamas is in power. This means endless war. A political solution is required, with the establishment of a body that manages affairs in the Gaza Strip on the day after.
The war will not end with a military victory. Israel’s government is wrong in believing that collective punishment will cause Gazans to revolt against Hamas. Gaza is not Tel Aviv (where a revolt against Netanyahu also isn’t bearing fruit). Hamas is an extremist organization of zealots. If we revolt, they simply will kill us. They brutally suppressed a non-violent protest in March 2019. What would they do now, during a war in which they’ve already crossed every boundary, feeling that their very existence is under threat?
The best solution for the day after is to return the decision to the people. A referendum should be held under international monitoring, with the establishment of an international administration supported by Arab countries, led by Egypt. Such an administration will bring about an end to the war, disarming militant organizations and releasing the hostages. It will set up a system for security and aid, removing unexploded ordnance remaining in the area and rehabilitating infrastructure. Many challenges await Gazans, but the main thing for us is ending the war as well as the return of displaced people to their homes.
This administration will operate for a two-year transition period, at the end of which control will be handed over to the Palestinian Authority or to another elected body that will manage Gaza. Most importantly, Gaza residents are the ones who must chose their representatives. Gaza has paid the price, which is why it must decide its fate on its own. Residents must be afforded a sense of security and freedom with regard to their political representation. I am certain that the choice made by Gazans will surprise the world.
Hamas’ popularity is at an unprecedented nadir. People are fatigued. They have lost a great deal and are fed up with killing and war. Don’t believe the media in the Arab world: most outlets serve Hamas’ interests rather than reflect the wishes of Gaza’s population.
Journalists in Gaza also bolster the Hamas narrative. But the war and the 18 years of oppression which preceded it were enough to change the mood in Gaza, especially with regard to armed resistance.
Hamas is aware of this and has sacrificed Gaza in order to raise its popularity in the West Bank and overseas. Indeed, if elections were held now in all Palestinian territories, it would assume power again via a different entrance. I think that one of the undeclared reasons that motivated Hamas to carry out the October 7 attack was its wish to eliminate the Palestinian Authority and take over the Palestinian political apparatus.
Palestinian public opinion changed for the worse in regard to Hamas years ago. Gazans have been the group’s hostages since 2006. They cannot express their opinions safely and freely, and they don’t vote in elections. I am in my 30s and I’ve never voted. Despite this, some people insolently claim that Hamas is the people’s choice. Is it really?
Due to eased Israeli restrictions before October 7, the number of people seeking work in Israel exceeded 100,000. This fact embarrassed Hamas, which had always opposed normalization with Israel. This may have accelerated the decision to attack on October 7 in order to disrupt the eased restrictions, which undermined Hamas’ legitimacy.
Hamas earned its political capital through crises and isolation, which engender hatred and violence. Hamas was the first organization to send suicide bombers to blow themselves up at civilian border crossings at the beginning of the intifada. As a result, border crossings were closed to laborers and to Palestinians seeking medical treatment in Israel.
One year after the calamity of October 7, we are approaching a gigantic war led by fanatics on the extreme right. I am convinced that Hamas, the Iranian axis and the right-wing religious Zionists are two sides of the same coin. They feed on destruction and serve each other’s interests. They do not hesitate to trample their people in order to justify their slogans.
Most wars that aim to eliminate the opposing side fail, leading only to destruction and ruin. The strategy of most successful wars is to gain an advantage during final negotiations. Israel’s continuing clinging to a sterile strategy of occupation, a particularly bad one for a country situated in the midst of a hostile environment, attests to the fact that its destroyers will come from within.
Israel must finally realize that the Palestinian nation deserve a better life, and that it must be granted its full rights through an agreement that ensures the rights of both peoples to live in peace and security. The Jewish people have paid the highest price throughout their history due to oppression and evil, and they must understand that following in the steps of oppressive regimes that committed mass murder in the last century will not achieve security and stability for Israel.
The writer lives in the northern Gaza Strip. His name has been withheld.
This article is reproduced in its entirety