Palestinians are turning against Hamas as humanitarian crisis deepens
Elizabeth Stauffer
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A poll released last month by the Arab World for Research and Development found that despite the brutality of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, nearly 60% of Palestinians surveyed, both in the West Bank and in Gaza, “very much supported” the action. An additional 16% expressed “moderate” support for the massacre. Just 13% of Palestinians opposed the attack (21% in Gaza).”
But as the Israel-Hamas war enters its third month, signs of disillusionment with the terrorist group among Palestinians appear to be growing. It turns out Palestinians in Gaza have noticed that while Hamas leaders and fighters hide in their underground tunnels, hoarding aid sent to Gaza by the United Nations and humanitarian groups, they are left to contend with the consequences of Israel’s deadly response.
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In the early weeks of the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in the northern half of the Gaza Strip evacuated to the south to escape the fighting. As the Israel Defense Forces began its assault on the already overcrowded southern city of Khan Yunis last week, many Palestinians in Gaza were forced to flee a second time to refugee camps in and around the border city of Rafah.
But no matter where they go, one thing is clear: The humanitarian crisis inside the Gaza Strip has deepened. Moreover, as conditions deteriorate and Palestinians in Gaza turn to their leaders for support, the realization that their Hamas overlords have abandoned them is beginning to sink in. The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that “signs point to Hamas’s rule weakening and the barrier of fear against the terrorist group breaking.”
The Jerusalem Post cites journalist Muhammad Mansour, a Gaza resident, who delivered a blistering message to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a recent radio interview. He denounced Sinwar and his “wicked companions” and called for the immediate release of the remaining Israeli hostages.
Mansour said, “May Allah curse you, Hamas leadership. Sinwar, you are the offspring of a despicable creature. Allah will avenge the destruction you have inflicted upon us.”
He continued, “We were deported from Gaza to Khan Yunis and from Khan Yunis to Rafah. Our children, women, and families were torn apart from us. Release these hostages immediately! Sinwar, [Mohammed] Deif, and their wicked companions hide underground. We don’t even have access to water.”
In addition to the constant danger they face from Israeli military strikes, Palestinians in Gaza lack basic necessities such as food and water. According to the report, these items are “stored in [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees] warehouses but fail to reach the people.”
In the clip below, a woman tells an Al Jazeera reporter that the humanitarian aid coming into Gaza is not being distributed to the people. Instead, she claims it is brought down to the tunnels for use by the terrorists. When the reporter tries to cover for Hamas, she shakes her finger in his face and insists, “Everything goes to [Hamas’s] houses. They take it. They will even shoot me and do whatever they want to me, Hamas.”
Last week, the Times of Israel published a video of armed Hamas members looting a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid as it crossed into Gaza from Rafah. Angry locals began throwing stones and shouting at the terrorists, who fired back. The Palestinians in Gaza are seen chasing the slow-moving convoy on foot.
Palestinians in Gaza aren’t the only ones feeling that Hamas has abdicated its leadership duties in the Palestinian enclave. It was widely reported last week that several large groups of Hamas fighters in Jabalya and Khan Yunis laid down their arms and surrendered to IDF forces.
Citing Army Radio, the Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that many Hamas fighters have “lost contact” with their leaders as the war has moved into southern Gaza, which has left them with no other option than to surrender. The report said the IDF is “identifying changes in Hamas leadership’s conduct” and that it is finding Hamas’s senior leaders “prefer their personal survival over the survival of Hamas’s command and control operations.”
Indeed, they do.
The most scathing assessment of the terrorist group came from Hamas’s former communications minister, Yousef al Mansi, who is jailed in Israel. The Shin Bet security agency released a recording of a 14-minute interrogation of al Mansi and provided translated excerpts to the Times of Israel on Sunday night. (The Times of Israel noted that Shin Bet did not provide information about when al Mansi was arrested.)
Al Mansi had harsh words for Sinwar, telling interrogators, “This is a group of crazy people that [Yahya] Sinwar leads. They destroyed the Gaza Strip. Set it back 200 years. People in the Gaza Strip say that Sinwar and his group destroyed us. We must get rid of them.”
He said that “nobody likes Sinwar,” who has “delusions of grandeur” and “feels like he is above everyone else.” He claimed, “There are people who, day and night, pray that God will free us from him.”
Referring to the Oct. 7 attacks as “the opposite of Islam,” al Mansi said, “This is heresy, madness. What they did is unacceptable according to logic, religion, or intellect. Those who are responsible for this are Sinwar and his group.”
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The war is going well for Israel militarily. Not so much for Hamas. Palestinians in Gaza have seen firsthand how the leaders they once supported so overwhelmingly involved them in an unprovoked and unnecessary war and then left them to fend for themselves while they hid underground. They’ve also watched as members of Hamas confiscated life-saving international aid shipments while they and their families starved.
It’s pretty clear that two months of war in the Gaza Strip has changed some Palestinians’ hearts and minds. Apparently, starvation and daily missile strikes weren’t quite what they had envisioned when they cast their votes for terrorists in 2006.
Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner, Power Line, and AFNN, and she is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation Academy. She is a past contributor to RedState, Newsmax, the Western Journal, and Bongino.com. Her articles have appeared on RealClearPolitics, MSN, the Federalist, and many other sites. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.