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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/07/23/gaza-hamas-government-israel-netanyahu/
Hobbled Hamas Government Clings to Power
(Washington Post) Miriam Berger - After nine months of Israel's all-out war against Hamas, the group's government remains a key source of civil authority across Gaza. As law and order collapse, Hamas has retained pockets of power, analysts and residents say, and has been quick to reemerge in areas when Israeli forces withdraw. Local officials still exercise a degree of control over the economy, provide limited services, and mercilessly punish their critics. "Hamas is part of our national fabric," said Jabril Rajoub, a prominent figure in Fatah, Hamas's main political rival. While many Gazans still support Hamas, open criticism has become more common as the war drags on. On July 8, Amin Abed, 36, a prominent political activist and critic of Hamas, was attacked by a group of masked men with hammers and crowbars who identified themselves as being from Hamas's Internal Security Service. They severely beat him for more than 20 minutes. "I heard the person in charge telling them, 'Break the fingers on his hands that he uses to write and incite against us,'" Abed said. "And indeed they broke my fingers with the crowbar."