By Samah Abdel Fattah | 2025-04-14

Hamas's increasingly harsh tactics against civilians in Gaza are fueling a dangerous cycle of retaliatory violence as residents lose faith in the group's authority and ability to maintain law and order.

The situation in the war-torn Palestinian territory deteriorated sharply after Hamas gunmen killed a young man named Abdul Rahman Abu Samra as he waited in line to buy flour.

Distrusting Hamas-controlled legal procedures, his family took justice into their own hands by killing one of the police officers involved in his death, Palestinian activist Amer Hassan told Al-Fassel.

"Hamas is increasingly engaging in repression against civilians in the Gaza strip," Hassan said. "This isn't just about excessive force against lawbreakers. Rather, they've reached the point of using direct gunfire to settle any minor dispute."

The group's practices have exposed its true nature, as civilians increasingly seek personal retribution, he added, noting that Hamas has become "merely a cover to carry out the orders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."

Since coming to power in Gaza in 2007, Hamas has routinely used force to quell dissent. Human rights organizations have documented cases of torture, physical abuse and arbitrary detention, especially during the 2019 economic protests.

Repression and killing

"Hamas engages in all forms of repression and killing," extremist group specialist Yahya Mohammed Ali told Al-Fassel. "It's showing its true face as a terrorist group that endangers civilian lives with its policies."

Public anger has intensified as Hamas members, collaborators and allies display modern vehicles and weapons while enjoying privileged access to money and food aid, which the group seizes and allocates to them, Ali said.

These abuses were exposed when angry civilians stormed the Hamas-controlled warehouses of international relief organizations that were supposedly empty, to find them "filled with essential commodities," he said.

When demonstrations against Hamas erupted across Gaza recently, the group initially showed restraint.

But after widespread calls on social media for expanded protests, Hamas security forces began targeting perceived opposition figures, particularly those linked to the rival Fatah movement.

Multiple residents described enforcement of house arrest orders, while reports emerged of one activist's death and numerous death threats.

The mounting civilian protests have "broken the barrier of fear" and are expected to escalate into broader rejection of Hamas rule, potentially marking the beginning of the end of the group's control over Gaza, Ali said.