Gazans are furious with Hamas

In the stifling heat of Gaza's besieged enclaves, a single video has ignited not just global outrage but a rare wave of internal dissent. The footage, released by Hamas yesterday, depicts Israeli hostage Evyatar David, 24 years old, captive for over 665 days, gaunt and hollow-eyed, forced to dig his own grave in a dim tunnel. Intended as propaganda to showcase "shared suffering," it has backfired spectacularly among Gaza's online community, who lambast it as a self-inflicted wound, edited with "negligence and stupidity" that exposes the group's hypocrisy and harms their cause.

Abu Ali, a Gaza-based commentator, captured the brewing storm: "Gaza surfers: Hamas made a mistake with publishing the video yesterday." Criticism echoes across social media, where users, enduring blackouts, shortages, and bombardment, accuse Hamas of creating "image damage" that undermines their struggle. One anonymous poster, his words laced with bitter frustration, laid bare the irony: "I am convinced that Hamas is the one who invented stupidity. They show a prisoner exhausted and say that he eats what we eat, and at the same time a hand of an activist from Hamas's military wing comes out and gives him a box, the hand of this activist is bigger than my thigh.

"That is, you cannot protect your people, you rob the aid for your belly, and in addition you show it to the whole world... Fools..."

These voices, emerging from the shadows of a war-torn strip, paint a poignant portrait of disillusionment. For Gazans scraping by on meager rations, where a simple meal is a luxury amid allegations of aid diversion, the sight of a well-fed Hamas hand extending food to a starving hostage feels like a betrayal. It underscores the chasm between leaders ensconced in tunnels and civilians bearing the brunt of siege. As one commenter lamented, the video doesn't rally support; it amplifies despair, turning a tool of defiance into a mirror of division.

In this endless night of conflict, where hope flickers like a dying flame, these critiques whisper a deeper tragedy: a people caught between internal fractures, yearning for peace yet haunted by the very forces claiming to fight for them.