Haviv Rettig Gur
Think what you want of the Israeli aid system - and I have high hopes but also some real worries about it - but Gazans definitely don't want Hamas to control the aid. The aid they received yesterday, in that chaotic and not exactly successful first day of distribution, was nevertheless the first time that many of them didn't have to *pay* for it because no one stole the aid to push on the black market to fund the continuation of the war.
Ihab Hassan
Put aside all the legitimate criticism of the new humanitarian project in Gaza. Hamas isn’t opposing it out of concern for the people of Gaza or how the humanitarian project will be used to weaponized to enable mass displacement of Palestinians. They oppose it because it threatens their control—and their ability to profit from Gaza’s ongoing humanitarian catastrophe. Hamas is trying to block the project, while the Israeli government is pushing it forward—yet neither is acting out of genuine concern for the people of Gaza. And here’s the recent AWRAD poll released yesterday shows that less than 2% of Palestinians in Gaza trust Hamas to deliver humanitarian aid.
