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Gazan Civilians Rail Against Hamas for Wrecking Their Lives
(Times of Israel) Gianluca Pacchiani - A widow's anger at Hamas for plunging Gaza into war is boundless in a recently recorded interview: "The Israelis drop these leaflets offering cash rewards to anyone who can provide the whereabouts of [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar. I swear, if I knew where he was, I'd bring them Sinwar's head for free." The testimony is part of "Voices from Gaza," an ongoing series of short clips in which Gazans tell of their hardships during the ongoing war, started on Oct. 7 by Hamas. The project is conducted by the Center for Peace Communications (CPC), a New York-based nonprofit founded by veteran Middle East expert Joseph Braude. It is a continuation of "Whispered in Gaza," interviews with Gazans published in January 2023. In the conversations Braude and his team have recorded, Gazans lash out at Hamas for sacrificing the civilian population to pursue its terror goals, hoarding humanitarian aid, causing the death of their loved ones, and destroying Gaza's future. Braude said the main cause of food shortages in Gaza appears to be that Hamas has been siphoning off much of the humanitarian aid and selling it at highly inflated prices on the black market. "Hamas are using food as money, making additional ways of accruing funds for their war." His contacts inside Gaza say people's access to food depends on their level of allegiance to Hamas. "The vast majority of the Gazan population are on the third rung of beneficiaries. The first level...includes the Hamas leadership and elite fighters. The second comprises about 30% of the population, Hamas' true base - the stalwarts, the families, the nepotistic patronage network. Then below that is 70% of the population that really is not a part of that system, and they are the last people to receive aid." According to testimony, during the truce in November, Hamas members came out of the tunnels and began "driving around in jeeps, shooting in the air, beating up merchants, attacking whoever they want as usual, shooting people whom they deemed to be collaborators with the enemy. Gazans are not convinced that Hamas' rule can be ended, and believe that the war will conclude with a return to the status quo." "How can you blame them? Four rounds of fighting between Israel and Hamas have taken place since the terror group wrested control of Gaza in 2007, and each one ended with Hamas remaining in power. Many Gazans fear that it's premature to prepare for a post-Hamas future because they don't necessarily see Hamas being unseated." Their perception, however, could be rapidly altered if visible change began to occur on the ground, Braude said. "There are many Gazans, including ones we have spoken with, who are rather candid in saying that they would much prefer some kind of civil administration supported by some combination of Gazans and allied countries, including Israel, than return under the rule of Hamas." "That doesn't make them pro-Israel, although a subset of them genuinely believe in coexistence as a principle. But a larger number who believe in resistance in the abstract nonetheless still oppose Hamas' brand of resistance as self-destructive, provoking a reaction that leaves civilians to suffer while Hamas fighters hide in the safety of bunkers and their leaders' families live in opulence in Qatar and Turkey."