How can we understand the terrible, self-imposed deprivation now gripping the
people of Gaza? The heart-wrenching stampede that unfolded in Gaza last
Thursday casts a stark light on the brutal reality of life under Hamas's rule.
It is a somber reminder of the urgent need to address the suffering of Gaza's
people, but it also serves as a crucial moment to clarify the accountability
for Gaza's plight.

The chaos and desperation that led to this tragedy are direct outcomes of
Hamas's governance, which prioritizes violence and killing Jews over the
welfare of its population. The stampede, occurring during an aid distribution,
tragically underscores the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Driven by sheer
desperation, people found themselves in a deadly crush, a situation that
should never occur.

To pave the way for peace and stability for my brothers and sisters in Gaza,
it is essential to acknowledge the root causes of their suffering. Hamas's
diversion of resources, suppression of dissent, and neglect of civilian needs
must end. The international community, along with the Palestinian people, must
demand accountability and seek a future where governance prioritizes human
dignity, economic opportunity, and peaceful coexistence. Only through
addressing these fundamental issues can we hope to prevent such tragedies and
build a brighter future for all Palestinians.

As a Palestinian human rights activist deeply sympathetic to the plight of the
Palestinian people and the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I
can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that the terrorist group Hamas is
responsible for the suffering of Gazans.

Outside obfuscators often try to misplace blame for the suffering onto
Israel's "blockade" on the Strip, but a brief consideration of the timeline
shows the absurdity of this conceit. Israel unilaterally withdrew all of its
soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005. Within hours, Hamas-aligned looters
had stripped bare and destroyed the greenhouses and farms Israel had left
behind for local sustenance. In 2007, Hamas seized military control of the
strip in a brutal local coup against the internationally recognized
Palestinian Authority (PA), throwing its supporters off the roofs of
buildings.

Since then, rather than engage in peacemaking and economic development, Hamas,
like a Mediterranean North Korea, has diverted all of its resources to
warfare. It and its ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), have repeatedly
fired rocket salvos into central Israel�in 2008-9, 2012, 2014, and 2021. In
October 2023, Hamas breached all precedent with an all-out invasion of
Southern Israel, massacring over 1,200 innocents in a single day�including 300
young people at an all-night nature dance party celebrating peace.

Rape, torture, and bodily mutilation were reported on a systemic scale, and
over 240 innocents were dragged back to Hamas's terror emirate in Gaza as
hostages. Hamas is still holding over 130 of these innocents hostage.

As a human rights activist and a human being, I recognize that it defies all
rules of geopolitics, morality, and human nature to suggest that Israel not
respond militarily to dismantle Hamas and rescue its people, who we now know
are being raped and psychologically tortured in captivity.

And yet, amidst the intensity of the ongoing war, Israel has facilitated the
transfer of international aid to Hamas-controlled territory�while Hamas has
been seizing these essential supplies and transferring them for military
purposes. Hamas has built a massive network of tunnels under the Strip that
exceeds the New York subway system in length, where hostages have been kept
underground without light and used as human shields to protect terrorist
commanders. Hamas's cannibalization of the civilian economy has gone so far as
to dig up water pipes and convert them into makeshift rockets to fire into
Israeli territory.

Beyond economic manipulation, Hamas's rule in Gaza is marked by a severe
crackdown on political dissent. Opposition and press voices are silenced,
often violently, with human rights organizations reporting arbitrary arrests,
torture, and extrajudicial killings. LGBTQ+ individuals, and anyone else who
defies the harsh religious extremism governing all life in the Strip face
torture and execution.

The real victims of Hamas's governance are the ordinary people of Gaza, who
endure the consequences of their rulers' bloodthirsty actions. The youth,
facing unemployment rates that are among the highest in the world, see their
futures evaporate in an economy stifled by mismanagement and artificially
exacerbated conflict. The sick suffer from a health care system in disarray,
with hospitals overwhelmed and under-resourced, in part due to the diversion
of medical supplies to serve Hamas's fighters and the repurposing of these
healing spaces into military command centers.

As a Palestinian human rights activist, my loyalty lies with the Palestinian
people, whose rights and future have been compromised by a cruel leadership
that prioritizes military and terrorist objectives over human welfare. For
those of us caught in the middle, the path forward requires an honest
confrontation with the reality of our situation.

The plight of Gaza is a wound at the heart of the Middle East, a testament to
the failures of an international policy that has foolishly coddled a brutal
tyrant and implacable foe. Only by dismantling the governing rule of the
irredeemable Hamas can we begin to heal this wound and move toward a future
where the rights and dignity of all Palestinians are upheld, and peace and
economic development alongside our Israeli neighbors can at last bear fruit
for both sides.

: Bassem Eid is a Palestinian human rights activist He lives in the West Bank.

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Let's go Brandon!