In the shadow of Gaza's looming and heart-wrenching humanitarian crisis, there lies a stark and harrowing truth: Hamas, with its iron-fisted rule in Gaza, has once again revealed its true colors, not as a liberator of my people, but as a kleptocratic tyrant. As the international community scrambles to prevent a catastrophic collapse of essential services in Gaza, with hospitals running dangerously low on fuel, Hamas has hoarded over 200,000 gallons of fuel for its own militant apparatus, siphoning the lifeblood of innocent Palestinian civilians to fuel its hate-filled agenda against Israel.
The distressing scenes of Gaza's residents desperately storming U.N. warehouses in search of aid starkly contrast with the calculated stockpiling Hamas undertakes. Hamas claims to fight for Palestinian liberation, yet their actions directly contribute to the suffering of the very people they vow to protect. With a stranglehold on resources, Hamas has brazenly demanded fuel deliveries, weaponizing the humanitarian needs of Gazans in negotiations while brazenly diverting aid to bolster its militant capabilities and terror tunnels.
Hamas's actions are not merely a political maneuver. They reveal a moral bankruptcy that holds the lives of Gaza's 2.2 million Palestinians as ransom. As the international community and Israel work to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those in need, Hamas's unyielding grip on power remains the principal obstacle to relief and peace. The audacity of this group to pilfer fuel meant for emergency services and manipulate the desperation of Gazans for tactical advantages is not just reprehensible; it is an act of terrorism by any definition.
And here's more truth: It is Hamas that is holding its own people hostage as human shields. An audio recording published by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) revealed Hamas putting up roadblocks to prevent Gazans from moving away from the area that Israel had called on them to evacuate. Hamas's callous nature toward its people's rights includes storing weapons and other targets of military value next to schools, hospitals, and mosques. They want to kill Israelis and have Israelis kill their people and lose global support. Either is a win for them.
On October 17, according to indisputable evidence including audio recordings of the terrorists and the assessments of world intelligence services, a rocket launched by Gaza-based terrorists of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fell short and damaged the al-Ahli hospital. The New York Times and various Arab and Islamic diplomatic services breathlessly repeated Hamas's false assertions that Israeli airstrikes were responsible and that the death toll was over 500.
The impact of these falsehoods was felt well beyond Gaza. Mobs in Amman, Jordan attempted to storm the Israeli embassy. In Istanbul, an enraged crowd nearly overran the Israeli consulate in the aftermath of the hospital claims. In Beirut, Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy was besieged by throngs.
This ugliness demonstrates why regional leaders who treat Hamas as credible do nothing to help the Palestinian people. Turkey's President Recept Tayyip Erdogan wrongly stated that Hamas was not a terrorist organization but a liberation group. Jordan's Queen Rania bizarrely promoted a Hamas-backed conspiracy theory that there was "no evidence" of the terror group's atrocities, a mind-boggling exercise in victim blaming that the Israeli government compared to Holocaust denial in real-time.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank where I live, senior Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders praised the Hamas carnage of October 7 as a "dream come true," a "miraculous victory" and a "source of great joy." These so-called Palestinian and Arab leaders are cowards who are afraid of Hamas and its purported "street power" in the aftermath of the killing, which has inspired the worst elements of society to acts of violence.
Listen, instead, to those of us on the ground. Any legislator right now calling for a ceasefire is misguided. Leaving Hamas in power after the horrific human rights violations they have committed is not just unimaginable because it would leave Israel's deterrence eroded and its population catastrophically unprotected; it is dangerous in the short-term to Palestinians in the West Bank and in the long-term to the world.
Life under Hamas is unbearable, much like under the similar regimes of the Taliban and ISIS; many Gazans are tortured and killed for deviating from the approved lifestyle. Similarly, in the West Bank, the PA dictator Abbas uses Hamas as a bogeyman when talking to the West—then actively collaborates with Hamas. The military wing of the Fatah party, the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, joined in the violent October 7 assault on Israeli civilians.
And let us not forget why my brothers and sisters in Gaza are in this situation in the first place. If Hamas had never violated Israel's borders and butchered 1,400 Israelis, torturing and raping 80 percent of the massacred, there would be no fuel crisis in Gaza today. This assault made Israel's decision to cut off fuel painful but necessary. If the terror group negotiated in good faith to release the 240 innocents who they still hold captive in Gaza, Israel would not be engaged in a ground operations against the Strip.
Hamas alone is responsible for Gaza's energy crisis.
Hamas cannot remain in power. The Palestinian people ask one thing of Israel, the United States, and the whole world community. Do not be deceived by the power of anti-Israel thugs to besiege embassies and intimidate dictators. The good people of our nation are with you. Please, remove Hamas from power and defeat these wicked terrorists who hold us captive, just as they hold captive over 224 Israelis and civilians from other nations. Only when you free our people from these evildoers, who have tried to indoctrinate a generation of Palestinian youth, will we have a chance at peace and healing.
Bassem Eid is a Palestinian human rights activist. He lives in the West Bank.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
