TEHRAN – Hamas is gaining popularity in the Gaza Strip despite more than two years of a U.S.-backed campaign of genocide, U.S. media reports.
Hamas’s growing popularity poses a challenge to US President Donald Trump’s plan to “bring peace to Gaza by disarming the movement,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Security is a key element in this change. Last month, as a ceasefire took hold and Israeli occupation forces withdrew to the so-called “Yellow Line,” Hamas resistance fighters reappeared on the streets as police and internal security forces. They began patrolling neighborhoods and targeting criminal organizations.
Many residents, including those opposed to Hamas, welcome the sharp drop in theft and looting.
“Those who don’t support Hamas also want security. We saw complete collapse, robbery, bullying, illegal activities. No one could stop it except Hamas. That’s why people support Hamas,” said Hazem Saloul, a Gaza City businessman.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 80 percent of humanitarian aid from the United Nations and partner agencies was intercepted or stolen by armed groups in the Gaza Strip before the ceasefire.
With Hamas police returning to the streets, aid theft fell to 5% last month, OCHA said, attributing this change to increased aid deliveries and the efforts of “Hamas’ blue police”.
The paper noted that a combination of declining crime rates and continued armed resistance to the Israeli occupation regime has allowed Hamas to rebuild its public image and consolidate control over its territory. Polls, analysts and residents across Gaza show that many Palestinians have a more realistic view of the organization.
A poll released last month by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research found that 51% of Gazans had a positive view of Hamas’ performance during the war, up from 43% in May and 39% a little more than a year ago.
In a separate question about political party support in a hypothetical election, 41% of Gazans said they would vote for Hamas, an increase of four points over the previous five months and the highest level since December 2023, during a campaign of genocide in the Strip.
The paper warned that growing support for Hamas could complicate efforts to move into a second phase of President Trump’s plan to force the resistance movement to disarm and relinquish its role in future governance of Gaza.
Opinion polls show that Palestinians are divided on this point, with 55% opposed and 44% supporting the plan to disarm Hamas. A similar minority of Gaza residents, 52%, opposed sending in international troops tasked with disarming the movement.
Palestinian resistance groups have strongly rejected the United Nations Security Council’s proposed plan to send foreign troops to Gaza and called on Algeria, a non-permanent member of the council, to oppose the move.
Palestinian factions warned of “grave dangers posed by the US draft resolution,” calling it “an attempt to impose international protection on the territory and promote a vision consistent with the (Zionist) occupation.”
They emphasized that the proposed framework would transfer control and reconstruction of Gaza to a supranational international organization with broad powers, effectively stripping Palestinians of their right to manage their own affairs and paving the way for external control over Palestinian national decision-making.
In a statement, the factions rejected any provisions related to the disarmament of Gaza or the violation of the Palestinian people’s right to resistance and self-defense. “The rights are legitimate and internationally recognized,” the newspaper said.
They stressed that any discussion on weapons should remain a domestic issue linked to the political process that ensures ending the Israeli regime’s occupation, establishing a state and achieving national self-determination.