Hamas, deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, Canada, Australia and Japan, in January 2021 violently evicted dozens of Gazans and demolished their homes over the claim they were built on “government” land. At the time, the US-based Al-Monitor outlet reported that Hamas forces razed houses and farms near the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, assaulting residents in the process.
At least 23 Palestinian families were displaced. They were not offered compensation or alternative housing, leaving some with the only option of living in tents.
One year later, they are apparently still on the streets.
And not a single mainstream news outlet has reported the story.
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On December 15, 2020, barely three weeks before the bulldozers were dispatched to Rafah, the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Land Authority reportedly green-lighted the expropriation of 13.6 acres of territory with the goal of expanding the commercial crossing with Egypt.
Hamas asserted that the “residents do not hold title deeds proving their ownership,” but the evicted families told Al-Monitor that this was not uncommon and made clear that their plots were “registered at the real-estate property department of the municipality of Rafah as nongovernment lands.”
The Hamas-appointed mayor of Rafah warned that Hamas’ disregard placed “more than 90% of Rafah’s lands” at risk of confiscation.
“We have been living on this land and cultivating it for more than 40 years — that is, before Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, and even before the founding of Hamas in 1987,” resident Mohammed Abu Shteiwi said.
He added: “The families who live on these lands have no other shelter.”
Abu Shteiwi subsequently wrote on Facebook, where he also posted photos and videos of people living in squalor, that Hamas’ actions were “an attack and assault. Destruction of our property, stealing of land, beating women and residents forcefully with no right.”
It garnered few, if any denunciations from governments.
On January 10, 2022, Abu Shteiwi again took to Facebook: “Since a year and more, some people lived on the rubbles of their homes in the cold weather until this moment.”
Gaza's ruling Hamas terror group violently evicted residents and demolished homes it claims were illegally constructed on government land in Rafah. One resident said he had been living on the property for over 40 years.
Where are the condemnations?https://t.co/TuiJ0biIGk
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 25, 2022
Related Reading: The Gaza Bombing You Weren’t Told About Because It Didn’t Fit Media’s Anti-Israel Narrative
Hamas Harming Palestinians and Israelis Alike
Gaza’s rulers trample on the rights of Palestinians. HonestReporting has highlighted how Hamas and other Gaza Strip-based terror groups use civilians as human shields (see, for example, here, here, here and here). Hamas is known to use residential buildings, hotels, hospitals, and even schools as launching pads for attacks against Israel.
Gazans previously called on Hamas and its allies to stop storing weapons in residential areas. The rare internal outcry followed a large explosion in Gaza City’s Al-Zawiya market that killed one person and injured 14 others.
After severe flooding earlier this month in Gaza, some accused Hamas of diverting funds earmarked for infrastructure projects to the building of tunnels, often used to smuggle weapons and carry out terror attacks against Israel.
HonestReporting therefore urges the media to address Hamas’ crimes in Gaza, particularly as they pertain to violating human rights. Additionally, we urge Western diplomats, in particular, to publicly condemn the organization they define as a terrorist group that continues to harm Palestinians and Israelis alike.
We encourage our subscribers to contact the Office of the EU Representative to the West Bank and Gaza, as well as the US Embassy in Jerusalem, to politely urge them to take a stand against Hamas’ abuse of its own civilians.
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