Observers in the area and abroad continue to make assumptions about Gazan common support for Hamas despite the intensification of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Debates not only about how the war is perceived but also about the future relief plans for Gazans may be influenced by false assumptions like those made by US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who asserts that all Palestinians are” anti-Semitic” or those who accuse them of” electing Hamas.”
Any restoration efforts or help distribution may be weighed against concerns about Hamas insurgents living in Gaza.
In my own research on Islamism and Jihadi-Salafis, I discovered that military interventions were prompted by violent actions in order to take advantage of the ensuing chaos. Furthermore, even when those populations reject their rule, these groups frequently assert that they are acting in the” legitimate” interests of those they control.
As a number of commentators have noted, Hamas probably intends to use the violent aftermath of the intervention to foster Israel’s continued dependence on it and to divert attention away from its own private policy failures in addition to encouraging an excessive response from Israel.
Gaza and officials
Leaders on both sides of the argument have made an effort to defend their deeds. They frequently rely on their own perception of Gazan public view to advance their respective plan goals.
For instance, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, asserted that” the whole Arab Muslim community” and Gazans were represented by the organization’s activities. According to Haniyeh, Hamas used violence to defend Palestinians who had been attacked in the Al-Aqsa Mosque element in September 2023, suffered at the hands of Israeli security forces, or the West Bank settlers.
In the meantime, Jewish President Isaac Herzog suggested that all Gazans shared accountability for Hamas. He came to the conclusion that Israel may take action to protect its personal interests from Gaza and its citizens.
The Biden presidency has sought a more comprehensive approach to the increase while being careful not to denounce the Jewish battery. The vast majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas’ horrifying attacks, and [ instead ] are suffering as a result of them, US President Joseph Biden noted in an interview and on social media.
For suffering, according to Biden, necessitated Israel’s” total siege” against Gaza being lifted in the end.
In each instance, officials based their policies on their presumptions about Gazans. However, the citizens of Gaza experience these policies very different.
Various perspectives on Hamas
An continued sense of hopelessness living under the Jewish siege can be seen by examining Gazan public judgment over time.
79 % of Gazans supported armed opposition to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, according to a poll conducted in June 2023 by Khalil Shikaki, professor of political science and director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Only 57 % of Gazans held a” somewhat positive” opinion of Hamas, according to data from the Washington Institute from July 2023.
A more complex story is suggested by more reading of those surveys. Take into account that in 2018, 53 % of Gazans lived in poverty, 25 % of women in Gaza were at risk of dying during childbirth, and there were insufficient medical supplies. In the same year, Shikaki discovered that more and more Gazans were unhappy with Hamas’ administration, with nearly 50 % of them wanting to leave Gaza permanently.
Instead of Hamas’ alleged” resistance ,” 64 % of Gazans in the June 2023 Washington Institute poll demanded better healthcare, employment, education, and a sense of normalcy. More than 92 % of Gazans openly complained about their living conditions.
Additionally, according to Shikaki, more than 73 % of people thought the Hamas government was corrupt. Gazans, however, had little faith in political change. Most Gazans live today were too young to have cast a ballot for Hamas because there had been no vote since 2006.
There was not always assist for military resistance. Over 73 % of Palestinians opposed the Palestinian Authority’s takeover of the Gaza Strip and any further military conflict when Hamas openly fought it in 2007 and questioned the legitimacy of its success.
Less than one-third of Gazans at the time supported any military actions against Israel. Over 80 % of people were found guilty of kidnapping, arson, and indiscriminate violence.
Move to the side
Surveys of Gazans from 2007 to 2023 are telling a story if read over period. They aid in demonstrating how Gazan support for armed opposition increased along with growing resentment, frustration, and a sense of helplessness toward any political answer to their plight.
What is new is the sense of desperation that can be felt in the limitations people are now willing to cross, restrictions that were once unassailable, according to professor Sara Roy, who studied the Arab business and Islamism in 2017.
Roy argued that Gazans, especially the 75 % under 30, had a wide range of sympathies for Hamas’ philosophy or statements to Islamic authenticity. They observed that Hamas paid pay at a time when few people did. If it meant getting paid, hiring Israeli soldiers who were targeting them was a determined and bearable risk.
In 2019, 27 % of Gazans attributed their living conditions to Hamas. 55 % of respondents in the same poll supported any peace plan that called for Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
When Shikaki polled Gazans in 2023, they expressed their support for armed resistance in the conviction that only such resistance— not electoral politics— would offer relief from the Israeli blockade and siege. But, those polled also expressed stress over Hamas’ corruption and Gaza’s continued unemployment and poverty.
Israeli anguish and Hamas’ goals
Given that Hamas claims to be their” legitimate opposition,” some Gazans appear to have given up on even a simple return to normalcy.
An entire era of Gazans has several options due to the stalled peace negotiations in Gaza since 2001, the postponement of votes, impossibility of leaving Gaza, and the current humanitarian crises.
Omar El Qattaa, a photographer based in Gaza, said,” There is death everywhere ,” and” memories erased.”
Despite poll in 2023 showing that the majority of Gazans were against ending the cease-fire with Israel, Hamas continued its October strikes against their will. El Qatta and thousands of different Gazans are experiencing a sense of despair that could be used by Hamas.
Hamas sees government, generosity, political violence, and violence as complementary and genuine tools to do its policy goals, according to Matthew Leavitt, a scholar and researcher of his.
Khaldoun Barghouti, a Arab researcher based in Ramallah, observes that, at least temporarily, the continuing Israeli assault has lessened Gazans’ animosity toward Hamas. For assaults” turned frustration toward Israel into more responsible to Hamas( over the problems in Israel )”
It will be interesting to see how this will affect support for solutions to Hamas in the coming months. Many will depend on how international organizations win back Gazans’ trust while helping them find viable alternatives to a state and violent movement they once viewed as corrupt and unable to meet their basic needs.
Nathan French teaches faith as an associate professor at Miami University of Ohio.
Under a Creative Commons license, this article is republished from The Conversation. Read the original publication.