The Netanyahu government has spent decades legitimizing Hamas, preferring a Palestinian leadership that helps them justify their ethnic cleansing efforts instead of one that's peaceful and wants to negotiate, e.g. the Palestinian Authority.
The man in the video is beside himself, a mask of anguish radiating through his bloodied face.“I am an academic doctor,” he says, “I had a good life, but we have a filthy [Hamas] leadership.
Four-fifths of Gaza’s population is displaced, often moving between temporary shelters.And law and order has broken down in places, partly as a result of Israel’s policy of targeting Gaza’s security forces - not just the official Hamas internal security service, but also the community police responsible for street crime.As control has waned, criminal gangs have thrived, looting neighbourhoods and aid convoys; and private security companies - some run by powerful local families - have emerged.
One staff member from an aid organisation operating in Gaza described "absolute chaos at street level" and "a state of anarchy", saying that civilian order had completely broken down as a result of the Israeli policy.Israel’s prime minister has repeatedly vowed to continue the war until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed.But some aid agencies - in both northern and south areas of Gaza - have also reported regular checks on their activities by local Hamas officials, and videos are frequently circulated of unofficial Hamas security forces shooting and beating those caught looting.One well-placed source told the BBC that dozens of people had been killed by Hamas in bloody score-settling with other local groups, after Israeli troops withdrew from one area.Fear of criticising Gaza’s leaders might have lessened, but it hasn’t gone, so it is still hard to accurately gauge, beyond individual testimony, how far support for the group is shifting.Some, like 26-year-old Jihad Talab, still strongly support Hamas.
Displaced from the Zeitoun area of Gaza City with his wife, daughter and mother, and now sheltering in Deir al Balah, he said the group was not responsible for their suffering.“We must support [Hamas] because it’s the one working on the ground, the one who understands the battle - not you or I,” he said.
A regular poll carried out by a West Bank-based think tank, the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, suggests that most people in Gaza still blame Israel and its allies for the war, rather than Hamas.The latest survey in June found that almost two-thirds of Gazan respondents were satisfied with Hamas - a rise of 12 points from December - and that just around half would still prefer Hamas to run Gaza after the war ends, over any other option.These results differ from several accounts given to the BBC, including from a senior Hamas official who privately acknowledged that they were losing support as a result of the war.These glimpses through chinks in the media blockade around Gaza can never give a full assessment of the situation.
International journalists are barred by Israel and Egypt from reporting on the situation there first-hand.What is clear is that Hamas remains very sensitive to public opinion.Strikingly similar messages regularly appear on certain social media platforms to justify its actions, often apparently in response to criticism at home.A source familiar with Hamas told the BBC there was an organised international network to co-ordinate social media messaging for the group.After Israeli families released a video showing the moment female soldiers were kidnapped by Hamas units on 7 October, some in Gaza questioned whether targeting women during war was in line with Islamic teaching.In response, several pro-Hamas social media accounts put out similar messages insisting that soldiers - male or female - were justified military targets, and saying the unit had been involved in shooting Gazan protestors during demonstrations six years ago.Criticism of Hamas is growing sharper, and long-buried divisions over Hamas rule in Gaza are becoming clear.Out of the destruction left by Israel’s battle with Hamas, a new war is emerging: a battle for control of public opinion within Gaza itself.
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