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Amid Escalation in Lebanon, Hamas Is Killing Opponents in Gaza and Stealing Aid
Egyptian trucks carrying humanitarian aid make their way to the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, May 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
In terms of Israel-Hamas negotiations, not much has changed since my last article.
The negotiations continue, with rumors abounding about supposed changes in Israel’s or Hamas’s positions. But every time the smoke clears, it becomes evident that with regard to the central issue, nothing has changed: Hamas still demands a total cessation of Israeli operations and total withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, with international guarantees that Israel will not resume its offensive. Israel continues to refuse to accept these conditions.
The following are Hamas’s terms for a ceasefire as posted on the group’s internet site:
We emphasize that any agreement must include:
A total ceasefire of the aggression against the Palestinian nation,
A complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip including the Philadelphi Corridor,
Return of all the displaced people to their homes,
Aid for our people and rebuilding of what the conquerors [Israel] have destroyed,
A serious and true deal for exchange of prisoners.
An interesting point that is not mentioned in the above official Hamas post, but appears in another document apparently found by the IDF in a Hamas underground command post, is that Hamas wants an inter-Arab military force placed on Gaza’s border with Israel as a guarantee that Israel will not renew its offensive later on.
This force would protect Hamas as it reconstitutes its military forces in preparation for a future war.
The fighting in the Gaza Strip continues at the same reduced pace and with the same methods on both sides. The IDF is deliberately setting the pace, slowly combing through the Rafah area against small pinprick ambushes and raids by Hamas and other groups. IDF units are operating both above and below ground.
IDF units in the Netsarim Corridor, which separates Gaza City from the rest of Gaza, are also continuing to conduct raids and defensive operations. The corridor is held almost exclusively by IDF reserve units that are rotated every couple of months.
Most of the Hamas Rafah brigade command hierarchy has been killed or wounded, and about 2,000 of its original 4,500 personnel are estimated to be killed or wounded. Others have fled and are hiding in the safe haven area. Thirteen kilometers of tunnels were exploded by the IDF after having been reconnoitered.
Four Israeli soldiers, including a female paramedic, were killed when a building was exploded on top of them by remote control.
In another incident, a helicopter landing at night to evacuate a seriously wounded soldier crashed, killing two of the casualty rescuer team and wounding seven others, including the pilot. Apparently the combination of dark, a dust cloud, and a complicated landing site (chosen to prevent Hamas from shooting at the helicopter) confused the pilot, causing them to make a mistake and crash into the ground.
Hamas continues to fire a few rockets every once in a while into Israel, mostly at villages near the border, and occasionally at towns farther away, such as Ashkelon. So far, none has caused casualties or damage.
Hamas continues to use schools, hospitals, mosques, and UNRWA sites as command posts and storage facilities. The IDF locates and strikes these locations using small-caliber guided munitions. Every time Israel takes out a Hamas position, Hamas claims that all casualties were civilians, until the IDF publishes the names and functions of those killed.
One example from the past two weeks was the attack on the al-Ja’ooni school in Nusayrat. This time, in addition to claiming the killed were all civilians, Hamas said they included UNRWA personnel.
The IDF then published the names of nine Hamas personnel killed there, including UNRWA employee Yassir Ibrahim Abu Shrar, whose day job at UNRWA — while simultaneously serving on the Hamas Emergency Committee (see below) — was as a member of one of Hamas’ internal security apparatus, which is responsible for population control.
Inside Gaza, in addition to fighting Israel, Hamas is busy asserting its dominance over the other Palestinian factions. One method of doing this is to take control of humanitarian aid convoys and distribute or sell the supplies according to Hamas’ needs (one of the missions carried out by the Hamas Emergency Committee).
In some cases, the IDF intervenes and directs fire at the Hamas teams that are doing this, but that often results in claims that the IDF itself is attacking the convoys.
In addition, there are reports by Gazans on social media of executions, abductions, and beatings of critics or members of other factions that have taken a too-independent stance (another mission usually carried out by the Hamas Emergency Committee).
Hamas of course labels all these victims “collaborators with the Zionists.” For all the talk of “the day after,” there can be no day after so long as Hamas remains the most powerful force in Gaza.
On the left: snapshot from a news video (al-Arabiya) of a Gazan criticizing Hamas. On the right: The same man in the hospital a few days later, after having been beaten up by Hamas personnel. (These photos were downloaded from the individual’s social media account by Israeli blogger Abu Ali Express)
Another critic was less fortunate. According to reports in Palestinian social media, an engineer working for UNRWA since 2021, who criticized Hamas on social media (“After being released from prison, Sinwar should have received ‘treatment’ and not been given control over 2.5 million people“) was shot and killed by Hamas.
In the first week of September, 1.26 million polio vaccines were sent into Gaza via Israel. Since then, 560,000 Gazans have been vaccinated, thus ending the first phase of the vaccination program. A second round of vaccinations is planned to begin within a couple of weeks.
Another health program is the supply of prosthetic arms and legs from Jordan to Gaza, together with a team of specialists to attach them. An interesting facet of this operation is that so far, the photographs that have been published of patients receiving the prosthetics show only men of military age.
Dr. Eado Hecht, a senior research fellow at the BESA Center, is a military analyst focusing mainly on the relationship between military theory, military doctrine, and military practice. He teaches courses on military theory and military history at Bar-Ilan University, Haifa University, and Reichman University and in a variety of courses in the Israel Defense Forces. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
The post Amid Escalation in Lebanon, Hamas Is Killing Opponents in Gaza and Stealing 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.