By Staff
October 18th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Republished from the Christian Monitor
A mood of shock and inevitability has spread over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as residents find themselves plunged into a war that has caught everybody off guard.
But even as the Gaza Strip braces for an Israeli ground assault, a large majority of Palestinians appear to support Hamas militants’ brutal weekend attack on Israel.
How can so many Palestinians support an act that much of the world has condemned as a terrorist outrage?
Hamas’ popularity is built on profound frustration with the failure of peace talks with Israel.
On Saturday, news of the surprise Hamas eruption prompted celebrations on the streets of Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, where people distributed sweets to gathering crowds.
Many saw the attack, in which more than 1,000 Israelis – mostly civilians – died, as retribution for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in earlier rounds of conflict and in daily life. Two hundred have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the occupied West Bank this year, a record high.
Frustrations have been running especially high in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, whose 2 million residents have been forbidden by the Israeli authorities to leave for 16 years.
“The situation is very devastating, and we couldn’t take it anymore,” says local journalist Hind Khoudary, describing deteriorating living conditions in Gaza. The assault on Israel “may not be aligned with international law,” she adds, “but, for the first time, Palestinians here in Gaza do not feel helpless.”
