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Many Gaza Civilians Identified with Hamas and Assisted It

(Ynet News) Dr. Michael Milshtein - As the IDF ground operations in Gaza deepen, it has come to light that there is hardly a spot in the Gazan public sphere that has not been used to serve in the struggle against Israel, including an elaborate system of tunnels, weapon storage facilities, snipers' posts, observation or rocket firing posts, headquarters and safe houses. Gaza as an entity was dedicated in its entirety to anti-Israel jihad. This makes one wonder about Gazan residents' attitudes toward the atmosphere that had developed in their living quarters, permeating their schools, kindergartens, mosques, UNRWA facilities, hospitals and recreational areas. It is highly unlikely that Gazans were not aware of the terror state existing among them. Many might have identified with the Hamas project and assisted it. The immense terror infrastructure currently being dismantled is a prime manifestation of Hamas' authentic set of priorities, which Israel had, to a large extent, failed to understand before Oct. 7. The financial value of the "tunnel cities" and the inconceivable scope of the weapons captured are estimated to be worth billions of dollars, the kind of money that could have dramatically improved the lives of Gazans over the last few decades. In Hamas' view, the ideological objective clearly outweighed any improvement in quality of life, and the Gazans themselves did little to object. The Oct. 7 massacre is rooted in ideological yearnings perceived as overarching considerations. The comprehensive rehabilitation that Gaza would require cannot focus merely on housing and infrastructure, but on the forming of a normal civil sphere, free of the murderous militarization spread by Hamas throughout Gazan society. This would require a profound change in Palestinian views - a mission even more complex than removing the military threats posed by Gaza. A profound change in Palestinian views cannot be achieved solely through Israeli actions. It must involve efforts from within the Palestinian system itself. We cannot but hope that the younger Palestinian generation will begin to grasp that the battle slogans and victimization embraced by their ancestors have led its people to nothing but disasters, and start to examine the possibility of replacing them with compromises and focusing on developing life here and now. Dr. Michael Milshtein is director of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.
2023-12-22 00:00:00
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