By Taghreed Saadeh
Hamas left the Palestinian people in Gaza to their fate, exposed to a devastating and brutal war that lasted for two full years, without any aid in food, shelter, or tents, only to return after the war to rule with an iron fist. It could have organized relief efforts during the conflict to alleviate suffering, but it chose instead to protect itself first and focus on consolidating power immediately after the war, making it part of the burden borne by the Palestinian people in Gaza. Hamas claims that Arabs and Muslims have abandoned it, yet it does not clarify where this “abandonment” occurred; it is Hamas itself that dragged Gaza into six wars, and each time it kidnapped an Israeli soldier or fired mortars, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians without achieving any notable political gains.
Its control infiltrated the fabric of Gazan society, which suffered both from Hamas’s actions and the occupation, to impose its dominance. Influential families such as Abu Warda, Al-Majayda, Dghmash, and Abu Samra were systematically marginalized after the cessation of hostilities. Hamas carries out a series of killings under threat and intimidation to subjugate the street, as it did during the internal division. It projects a narrative to the world labeling its victims as “collaborators” by what moral or religious justification?
While every society has its share of collaborators, Hamas has manipulated this notion to exaggerate its scale in Palestinian society. The Qassam Brigades treat these matters as if they were checkpoints operating under frameworks reminiscent of extremist groups, all stemming from the Muslim Brotherhood, such as ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra. This is unsurprising, considering Hamas fought against the Assad regime in Syria, which at the time was allied with leaders of Jabhat al-Nusra.
For two full years, Gaza has endured the weight of war due to hostages, and now Hamas continues to consolidate its control. It moves under the eyes of the occupation and rules society with an iron fist, while maps show large portions of Gaza lost to the occupier. The manner and scale of this takeover carry implications that cannot be ignored.
We rely on justice and believe that the Palestinian struggle will continue, but we must not forget that Hamas has hindered the liberation project for two decades. It has offered the people nothing but destruction, internal power struggles, and tragedies that have killed entire families, resulting in 58% of the Gaza Strip being effectively under occupation. The situation is now heading toward a civil war that may not be resolved in Hamas’s favor, as accusations of collaboration have prompted families to unite and resist what they call “security chaos” that bears no relation to genuine resistance, while Hamas exploits the rhetoric of resistance to settle internal scores and justify crimes, tarnishing its reputation.
With the continuation of this hardline approach, Hamas is pursuing policies that will ultimately lead to the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, either directly through fear and internal repression or indirectly as a result of ongoing wars and infrastructure destruction. In this path, Hamas may succeed in what Netanyahu himself failed to achieve, contributing to the depopulation of the Strip and the destruction of its living conditions, under the banner of “resistance,” which has transformed into a tool of oppressive governance that sees people only as instruments to sustain its power, with only 42% of Gaza’s territory remaining habitable after the destruction.
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