Hamas destroys Gaza for money, international sympathy and so Israel can get the blame

The worse the conditions of Gazan people look to the international community, the more money and sympathy come flowing to Hamas.

By Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute

As winter approaches, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are once again facing heavy rainfall, flooded tents, damaged shelters, and miserable living conditions.

Images of displaced families struggling through muddy streets and standing in waterlogged tents have triggered another wave of international condemnation of Israel—as planned.

The crucial question that gets largely ignored is, how come Hamas, the Iran-backed terrorist organization that continues to control the Gaza Strip, not only has done nothing to protect the people it claims to represent but has also actively obstructed help?

First, Hamas has repeatedly demonstrated that its military objectives take precedence over the welfare of the Palestinian population.

The organization that invested enormous talent and resources in constructing a network of hundreds of miles of liveable underground tunnels and in manufacturing tens of thousands of rockets now appears unable — or unwilling — to make even the slightest effort to protect displaced families from annual winter flooding.

In fact, according to Palestinian officials and engineers, Hamas has been deliberately obstructing humanitarian projects to improve living conditions in the Gaza Strip.

Even Palestinians are publicly accusing the terrorist group of obstructing efforts to help Gaza’s population.

Palestinian political analyst Fouad Ahmed Alkhatib wrote on X:

“The scandal surrounding Gaza’s failed winterization efforts lays bare a grim reality: Hamas obstructed attempts to protect Palestinian civilians before the devastating winter storms that flooded tens of thousands of tents.

“Palestinian Authority employees inside Gaza have reported that professionals from the Ministries of Public Works and Relief Affairs were intimidated, summoned, and coerced by Hamas into signing pledges not to undertake humanitarian projects without the group’s approval.

According to their accounts, those who defied Hamas risked so-called ‘field justice,’ including beatings and worse.

“Another example was a proposal that was put forward to demolish several heavily damaged towers, which were at risk of collapse from rainwater after extensive bombardment.

According to those involved, Hamas blocked the removal of the ‘Bank of Palestine Tower’ in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, reportedly arguing that it would ‘collapse from the rain anyway.’

The terrorist group did not show any concern for the civilian lives that would be lost when the tower eventually collapses on its own, because it wants dead Palestinians and news of tragedy to keep Gaza in the news cycle and to gain global sympathy, hoping for more incoming resources and donations for the Strip’s humanitarian and reconstruction needs that it could siphon.

“Additionally, Hamas has also been accused of obstructing construction projects intended to create safer communities for displaced Gazans in southern Gaza, prioritizing political control over humanitarian relief.

“This is a reminder that Gaza’s suffering is not only a consequence of war. It is also the result of a fascist and ruthless governing power that repeatedly places its own interests above the welfare of the people it claims to represent.

The same terror group that helped bring catastrophe upon Gaza continues to obstruct efforts to mitigate its consequences.”

Hamas is not just exploiting the suffering of Palestinians to make false accusations against Israel. It is also intentionally perpetuating it.

Hamas had also used equipment necessary for civilian life for military purposes.

A video published by Hamas’s own media outlets shows Hamas operatives dismantling water and sewage pipes in the Gaza Strip to use in manufacturing rockets to fire at Israel.

Pipes that should have supplied Palestinian families with water and supported basic sanitation have been systematically destroyed to manufacture weapons.

That was not an isolated incident. Hamas has long demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice the basic needs of Gaza’s residents to achieve its military objectives.

Hamas might well even prefer it: the worse the conditions of Gazan people look to the international community, the more money and sympathy come flowing to Hamas.

The consequences of those policies are now becoming apparent. While Hamas boasts about its ability to construct tunnels and manufacture rockets, Palestinians are denied even finding shelter from the rain.

Hamas’s obstruction of humanitarian relief efforts has also drawn criticism from its Palestinian political rival, Fatah.

In a statement, Fatah condemned Hamas for summoning employees of the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Labor, who work with relief agencies, and forcing them to sign pledges preventing them from continuing their professional and humanitarian work in Gaza.

Fatah clearly pointed out the contradiction between Hamas’s accusations that the Palestinian Authority was failing to do enough to help Gaza’s residents and Hamas’s own actions in obstructing their relief efforts.

According to Fatah, Hamas was misleading the public and evading responsibility for disrupting humanitarian operations.

Why would an organization claiming to defend the Palestinians prevent efforts to provide them with safer shelters?

Humanitarian assistance, for Hamas as for other dictatorial regimes, is just another instrument for exercising its control.

Through its selective distribution of tents, food, money, and supplies, Hamas rewards loyalists, intimidates opponents, and strengthens its grip on the population.

Hamas especially benefits politically and economically from the continued misery of Gaza’s residents.

The more dramatic the humanitarian images, the greater the international pressure on Israel and the greater the sympathy and financial assistance directed to the Gaza Strip.

It is like professional beggar women who deliberately blind their babies to make them “better beggars.”

Hamas retains its ability to exploit international aid and supplies for reconstruction while avoiding responsibility for its own failures.

Hamas leaders, many of whom reside comfortably in Qatar and Turkey, are not sleeping in flooded tents or struggling to protect their children from the rain.

What do they care? The ones who are are the Palestinian families whom they leave in destitution and mud—and whom they have seen time and again produce more compassion and financial help than they could ever have dreamed up.

Each time, the international media and so-called human rights groups rush to shore up Hamas’s claims without even asking a question.

After the recent rainfall, Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office announced that approximately 70,000 tents belonging to displaced Palestinian families had been flooded within 12 hours.

The figure was quickly repeated by various media organizations, including outlets that routinely pretend to present themselves as independent sources of information.

How was this number calculated? Who inspected the tents? How did Hamas establish the extent of the damage within such a short period of time, while the storm was still underway?

These are normal questions that any responsible journalist should ask before even publishing figures supplied by a terrorist organization.

The same applies to Western politicians who appear to love to condemn Israel whenever images of Palestinian suffering emerge.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, directing his criticism at the Israeli government, described the flooding and the humanitarian situation in Gaza as unacceptable.

Meanwhile, Hamas’s obstruction of projects to protect displaced families received no attention at all.

According to Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), more than 91,000 tents and 8,200 truckloads of tarpaulins, blankets, winter clothing, and other supplies have entered Gaza with Israel’s help since the beginning of their efforts to winterize the area.

Israel also facilitated the entry of sanitation equipment, including 12 vacuum trucks, as well as fuel and supplies for pumping facilities.

Any involvement by US President Donald J. Trump’s Board of Peace in addressing Gaza’s humanitarian difficulties should not be limited to monitoring rainfall, coordinating winter supplies, and expressing “concern” about flooded displacement camps.

These measures do not address the fundamental problem: Hamas remains armed, maintains its military infrastructure, and refuses to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip.

The Board of Peace urgently needs to be concentrating its efforts on ensuring that Hamas disarms, dismantles its military wing, and cedes control of the Gaza Strip.

Without these fundamental steps, reconstruction and meaningful improvements in living conditions will remain hostage to the interests of a terrorist organization.

Finally, the international community must stop treating Hamas as an innocent bystander to Gaza’s misery.

Hamas launched the October 7, 2023 war, embeds its military infrastructure in civilian areas, diverts civilian resources to terrorism, and continues to reject the disarmament necessary for Gaza to move forward.

The Palestinians in Gaza do not need more crocodile tears from Hamas leaders or another round of international condemnations of Israel.

They need to be liberated from the terrorist organization, as well as its patrons in Iran, who sacrificed their present and threatened their future.

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