Why are Living Conditions in Gaza so Awful?
Identifying a solution is impossible without first understanding the causes.
Image Credit: AI image generated by Dalle-3, depicting a war-torn street in Gaza, with a child holding an empty bowl.
Reading about the horrid conditions in Gaza is one of the most heartbreaking things you can do. Even before the war, quality of life for most Palestinians was abysmal. While (involuntary) starvation is rarely experienced in neighboring Israel, over 4 in 10 in Palestine suffer from food shortages.1 Many lack access to basic, life-saving medical care. Some commentators, particularly on the left, have characterized Gaza as "the largest open air prison in the world", and things are bound to get even worse in the coming weeks.
Why are living conditions there so poor? To some, the answer is simple: Israel. Israel has maliciously blockaded Palestine in an ongoing "slow motion genocide" that Israel is now accelerating. I think this view relies on a lack of curiosity for why Israel might be blockading Israel. Is the Israeli government evil? While "the Jews" certainly make a tempting scapegoat, that kind of thinking has caused things to get out of hand in the past, so let's first consider some alternative hypotheses before positing an evil conspiracy.
One potential reason Israel might want to interrupt the flow of goods into Gaza is that Hamas repurposes medical equipment and fertilizer, often given under the guise of humanitarian aid, into makeshift explosives.2 Hamas has even dug up water pipes and turned them into rockets designed to kill Israelis.3 And they often operate out of hospitals, schools, and mosques,4 in an attempt to maximize the number of Palestinian deaths (provoking international sympathy and aiding its propaganda campaign, a trap that many in the west fall for) if Israel decides to retaliate. Why is Hamas doing this? Are they evil?
The unfortunate reality is that Hamas appears to be a death cult who's founding document calls for the destruction of Israel5. Hamas has created propaganda videos that say Hamas "loves death" more than Israelis "love life"6. This is why they use human shields7 and care so little about the wellbeing of its citizens. They believe they are on a holy mission from God and will be rewarded with eternal paradise for their actions. Although I resist using black-and-white terms such as "evil", particularly for cult members who are themselves victims of radicalization and religious indoctrination, I can certainly understand why some might describe Hamas with that term.
Now I'm not saying that Israel is unworthy of criticism, but is clear that even without the blockade, Hamas (which has not held elections since it first won in 2006) posses an significant barrier to Palestinian prosperity, given their propensity to funnel a majority of their resources towards terrorist attacks against Israel. Another significant chunk of Hamas' resources goes towards funding Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism in Egypt, who has likewise blockaded the Gaza Strip. Israel and Egypt both bare responsibility for the blockade, though I find it curious that only Israel gets the blamed for the desperate conditions in Gaza.
Although the economic situation in Palestine deserves more nuance than I can provide here, it is clear that one group by far bears the most responsibility for Palestinian destitution: Hamas. I am disheartened by how little concern many on the far-left (particularly on college campuses) has for the atrocities committed by Hamas against its own citizens (not to mention innocent Israelis). Hamas has also criminalized gay sex, enforced sex-based segregation, and in general has little regard for human rights. I am deeply sympathetic to the hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians who are suffering, so I understand why many argue so vociferously to "liberate Palestine". But in order for Palestinians to be truly free, they first must be free from Hamas.
https://www.nrc.no/news/2018/april/gaza-the-worlds-largest-open-air-prison/
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/made-in-gaza-hamas-rockets-the-product-of-foreign-aid-and-smuggled-material/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/29/israel-has-been-too-soft-on-hamas
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/31/why-hamas-stores-its-weapons-inside-hospitals-mosques-and-schools/
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/hamas-covenant-israel-attack-war-genocide/675602/
https://palwatch.org/page/4286
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4260279-us-law-requires-biden-to-impose-sanctions-on-hamas-for-using-human-shields/