In recent days, residents in Gaza have expressed great anger at Hamas. They are frustrated that Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israel, because this causes a harsh Israeli response that forces them to leave their homes.
People are also demanding that Hamas give up control of Gaza in order to reach a ceasefire that will stop the suffering from the Israeli bombings – writes the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
FEARING FUTURE REVENGE
The newspaper quotes a young man who said that the reason Hamas has not come out against them now is because Israel immediately bombs any Hamas member who appears openly. He worries that once Hamas becomes stronger again, it will persecute the demonstrators as it did in the past.
The demonstrators are especially worried after the case of a young man named Adi al-Rubai from the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood. According to his family, he was kidnapped by Hamas members, severely tortured and then murdered, probably because he organized demonstrations against Hamas. Hamas has not officially responded and it is not clear exactly who is behind the murder. There is great chaos in the area and many kidnappings of young people for family and personal reasons.
CHAOS AFTER ISRAEL ELIMINATED SENIOR HAMAS FIGURES IN GAZA
The newspaper claims that the situation in Gaza became especially difficult after Israel renewed the war on March 18 and began eliminating senior Hamas figures, including military, political and government commanders. This has caused great chaos in the management of daily affairs in Gaza: police and teachers are not receiving salaries, government officials have disappeared and hardly answer the phones, and there is no order at all in the management of the lives of citizens.
Some see this as a sign that Hamas is weakening greatly and has lost control, but Hamas thinks differently. Senior figures in the organization say: “It is true that it is difficult for us to manage things now, everyone is hiding because everyone is a target for Israel.
But we are still strong, and a ceasefire will restore our strength. We will continue to manage Gaza until a clear political settlement is reached regarding who will manage things here.”
In the meantime, Israel continues to insist that it will not allow Hamas to participate in governing Gaza and demands that Hamas disarm and that its leadership leave the Strip. Hamas does not agree to these conditions and demands that the previous agreement be implemented, according to which the Community Assistance Committee will manage Gaza in its place.
Senior Hamas sources also told the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that the organization is facing difficulties in managing several matters, mainly because everyone is under attack, and everyone who remains inside the Strip, including the political, military leadership and government officials, is forced to hide and avoid being targeted by Israeli security forces until a ceasefire is reached.