Hamas was unpopular in Gaza before it attacked Israel – surveys showed Gazans cared more about fighting poverty than armed resistance

Nathan French, Associate Professor of Religion, Miami University

18 October 2023 at 8:32 am

Amid the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war, observers in the region and internationally continue to make assumptions about Gazan public support for Hamas. Any reconstruction efforts or aid distribution might be weighed against fears of Hamas insurgents within the Gazan population. As several commentators have observed, Hamas likely hopes to not just encourage a disproportionate response from Israel, but also to use the violent aftermath of intervention to cultivate continued Gazan dependence upon it and to distract from its own domestic policy failures.

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