Anger at Hamas is mounting in the Gaza Strip, with Palestinians accusing the terrorist organization of exploiting the winter season for financial gain, selling tents at exorbitant prices and preventing others from trading in tents and winter relief supplies.
"With winter arriving, there are about a million displaced people living in tents or dilapidated buildings across the Gaza Strip," a Gaza resident told Israel Hayom. "The winter began with heavy rains that flooded camps housing impoverished and displaced people. One building collapsed on its occupants, and in another incident, a wall fell onto a nearby tent because of the flooding. Many people are suffering through no fault of their own."
"Hamas terrorists and criminals are taking advantage of the winter," the resident said. "They sell tents at high prices and prevent anyone else from trading in tents or winter aid supplies, keeping the entire business to themselves. In my opinion, Hamas is using the suffering caused by winter to raise donations through media campaigns, whether inside Gaza through intermediaries, well-known influencers or Hamas-affiliated activists who run campaigns to raise millions of dollars from abroad."
"People in Gaza already know that Hamas is exploiting their suffering to make money," he added. "We hope Israel will find a solution and establish ways for civilians to shop and receive tents free of charge, for example near the Yellow Line or through groups responsible for distributing aid, rather than through Hamas."
Other residents reported that their Qatari-made tents flooded during the first rains and that they now need new tents better suited to winter conditions.
Calls for transparency in aid distribution
Palestinian social media activist Hamza al-Masri, who has 740,000 followers, also published an appeal on behalf of Beit Hanoun residents demanding transparency in the distribution of aid.
"How much longer will the distribution of aid, tents, money and sponsorships for orphans remain without accountability or transparency?" he asked. "Who distributed tents to Beit Hanoun residents? What criteria were used? Why do some displacement camps receive preferential treatment over others? Why are residents reporting that 'senior officials' arrive in SUVs at local government offices, collect three tents and leave, while families in need are knocking on doors and cannot find even a single tent?"
Meanwhile, Hamas is using residents' hardship to shift pressure onto Israel and international bodies. Hamas spokesman in Gaza Hazem Qassem accused the UN Security Council of "committing a real crime through its silence over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza resulting from the Israeli blockade."
In an official statement, the terrorist group also blamed Israel and the relevant international organizations for the humanitarian catastrophe. Hamas further singled out Nikolay Mladenov, a representative of the Board of Peace, accusing him of "failing in his duty to ensure the delivery of aid into Gaza."
