Palestinians: 'We Are Dying Because of Hamas'

by Khaled Abu Toameh

• Hamas leaders have also repeatedly made it clear that their terror group has no intention of laying down its weapons.
• Hamas leaders -- based in luxury hotels and villas in Qatar, Lebanon and Egypt -- appear in no rush to end the war. Many of them had fled the Gaza Strip together with their families during the past few years in search of a better life in Arab and Islamic countries. From their safe homes and offices, the Hamas leaders continue to issue fiery statements about their group's refusal to make concessions to end the conflict.
• "They are not the ones searching for food in the rubble. They are not the ones watching their children die. They sit in safety while others pay the price.... the suffering of Gaza has never been their concern, only their weapon." — Hamza Howidy, Palestinian human rights and peace activist, X, March 18, 2025.
• "Enough martyrs and death. Damn those who voted for you [in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary election]." — Ranem El Ali, Palestinian journalist and author, X, March 18, 2025.
• If the Palestinians living there want to end the war, they must revolt against Hamas and provide Israel with information about the whereabouts of the hostages. Sadly, most Palestinians seem unwilling to do so, either out of fear of Hamas or because they simply identify with the terror group and its goal of destroying Israel.

If the Palestinians living in Gaza want to end the war, they must revolt against Hamas and provide Israel with information about the whereabouts of the hostages. Sadly, most Palestinians seem unwilling to do so, either out of fear of Hamas or because they simply identify with the terror group and its goal of destroying Israel. Pictured: Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists share a moment of friendship before a crowd of supporters in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on November 28, 2023. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinians are again paying a heavy price as a result of Hamas's refusal to release the remaining 59 Israeli hostages (almost half of whom are believed to be dead) held in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. On that day, thousands of Hamas terrorists and ordinary Palestinians invaded Israel, murdering 1,200 Israelis and wounding thousands others. Another 251 Israelis – alive and dead – were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Hamas could have avoided much of the death and destruction it brought on the Palestinians by simply releasing all the hostages, laying down its weapons and relinquishing control of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, however, chose to drag the two million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip into a war that has claimed the lives of thousands and destroyed large parts of the coastal strip.

Continue Reading Article