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Hamas Pervades Every Aspect of Life in Gaza, and Is Preventing the Distribution of Aid
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, March 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Gaza is experiencing a total collapse of governance, making basic life-sustaining tasks like food distribution, aid delivery, and law enforcement incredibly challenging. The breakdown is a direct result of the iron grip that Hamas — the genocidal terror regime — held over the coastal enclave for more than a decade and a half. The US, Israel, and other partners have stepped in to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, but in order for these initiatives to succeed, Israel must first remove the Hamas threat.
In March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights accused Israel of intentionally restricting aid entering Gaza. However according to UN data, more trucks of food entered Gaza in March than any month in the past 10 years, belying the accusation. Israel claims that bottlenecks occur once the aid is inside Gaza, and that the UN is not up to the task of distributing the sorely-needed assistance.
In addition to the near 20,000 trucks of aid that have entered Gaza since October 7, Israel has facilitated a new maritime aid corridor, airdrops of aid by several countries, and is working with the United States on an ambitious project to build a floating pier off the Gaza shore that will help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Israel is also working with several aid organizations on the ground in Gaza to facilitate aid delivery. These organizations have taken on high levels of risk to deliver aid to those who need it in the enclave. Tragically, seven employees of Word Central Food kitchen were mistakenly killed by IDF fire as they traveled from central to southern Gaza during the night hours of April 1. This terrible incident brings the difficulties of delivering aid in war zones into sharp relief.
Despite Jerusalem’s efforts to “flood” Gaza with assistance by land, air, and sea, it is clear that many — especially those who ignored IDF pleas and remained in the war torn north of Gaza – face hunger.
The journey from the south of Gaza, where the vast majority of the aid is entering, to the north of the enclave has proven treacherous. It is on this journey that aid convoys have been attacked by terrorists and mobbed by thousands of desperate Gazans.
The question that needs to be examined is what led to the rapid and total breakdown in governance in Gaza? The answer lies in the style of Hamas rule in the enclave; a lethal authoritarian terror regime that pervaded every aspect of civilian life in Gaza.
Hamas ruled Gaza unchallenged after it took over the enclave in a violent coup in 2007. The bureaucracy, aid organizations, and police were all dominated by the terror organization. Not surprisingly, Hamas was the biggest employer in Gaza in 2023 with a reported 50,000 public sector workers on its payroll.
Hamas was also deeply embedded in the business of humanitarian aid distribution. According to Israel, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) — the UN organization that for over seven decades has provided a litany of services to Palestinians that in normal circumstances would be the responsibility of their government — employed approximately 1,200 staff that were active members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israel also said that at least 12 took part in the horrors of October 7.
The European Council on Foreign Relations describes the Civil Police Force in Gaza as being made up of members of the armed wing of Hamas and other factions in Gaza. Accordingly, Israel has targeted the police and they have fled underground. Without Hamas to enforce the rule of law, civilians in Rafah have formed loosely organized vigilante groups that police the streets with assault rifles or crude batons, and claim their job is to prevent price gouging by Gazan merchants.
Israel reportedly asked clan leaders to assist with distributing aid to the more isolated Gazans in the center and north. The reports elicited a statement from Hamas, warning Gazans that anyone that cooperated with Israel would be dealt with harshly. Since October 7, Hamas has repeatedly targeted Gazans who have defied the regime, and have a history of meting out death penalties and summary executions.
Once Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel or Gazans, new figures may emerge that are willing to partner with Israel and the international community and could play a leadership role in rebuilding the enclave. However, until Hamas is crushed, pragmatic Gazans are understandably cautious; all the more reason for Israel to pursue a total victory.
Enia Krivine is the senior director of the Israel Program and the FDD National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow her on X at @EKrivine.
The post Hamas Pervades Every Aspect of Life in Gaza, and Is Preventing the Distribution of Aid first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.