10 Reasons People in Gaza Are Rapidly Losing Faith in Hamas Amid the War

The man is grieving, his face a mask of blood and grief. I am an academic doctor, he said. I had a good life, but we have a filthy [Hamas] leadership. They got used to our bloodshed.

The setting for that clip, which was outside a hospital filled with Palestinian casualties following an Israeli commando operation to rescue hostages in central Gaza, was not an isolated incident. In the clip, he went viral, and such open criticism of Hamas was previously unthinkable before the war.

Growing Criticism of Hamas

Public criticism of Hamas is reaching its peak, both in person and on the streets and across social media. Not a few people are willing to say that Hamas is holding hostages next to busy markets or that Hamas in some cases has been firing rockets from civilian areas. Swearing at Hamas leaders has become an almost routine practice in Gaza’s markets: some donkey cart drivers even named their animals after Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and others.

Hamas has destroyed us’ or call. for God to take their lives,” said one man. “They ask what the 7 October attacks were for, with some saying they were a gift to Israel.” Some are urging their leaders to agree to a ceasefire with Israel.

It’s hard to tell how much support Hamas is’s hard to tell how much support Hamas is losing after years of their infamous, repressive control. Even some on its payroll are wavering.

Internal Dissent Within Hamas

‘This is a crazy,  I know that it made a good military preparation, but it neglected the home front. They didn’t prepare any safe places for people, nor did they have enough stored food, fuel, and medical supplies. “If my family and I live through this war, I will leave Gaza the first chance I get.”.

Opposition and Social Erosion

The hatred of Hamas, however, predates the war, but often somehow obscured for fear of retaliation. The last time Palestinians voted in 2006, 24 district council seats in Gaza went Hamas’ way. Hamas party then forcibly drove out the local Fatah representatives again, a year after that election.

Political activist Ameen Abed, jailed several times for openly opposing Hamas, noted that acts of dissent are themselves growing more widespread. “In Gaza, most people criticize what Hamas has done,” he said. “They see children living in tents, and insulting their leaders has become routine.”

Gaza’s social structures are collapsing. Four-fifths of the population is displaced, on the move between temporary shelters. Law and order have been shredded, in part due to Israel’s policy of bombing Gaza’s security forces. Criminal gangs have prospered, looting neighborhoods and aid convoys.

Continued Control and Public Opinion

Though Israel was at work to eliminate Hamas’s military and governing structure, many NGOs had to claim that Hamas’s officials continued to monitor their initiatives; there were plenty of videos featuring non-official Hamas security forces hitting looters.

While the fear of criticising Gaza’s leaders may have diminished, it is still significant, which makes it difficult to measure support for the group where it is heading. A periodic survey released by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research asserts that most people in Gaza still hold Israel and its backers responsible for this war instead of Hamas.

Through the media blackout, glimpses can never be sufficient to get a hold of the situation. International journalists are not allowed to report from Gaza. What is obvious is that Hamas is still sensitive to public sentiment and criticism of Hamas is becoming increasingly pointed.

From the wreckage that was left in the wake of Israel’s war with Hamas, a new war is arising: a war of gaining public support in Gaza itself.

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