On the Third Anniversary of October 7 Massacre of Israelis, Hamas Now Brutalizes Gazans

With next week’s third anniversary of the October 7 massacre in southern Israel, the main threat to women, children, and men in Gaza is from Hamas — as even the United Nations documents — yet Israel is widely blamed. A recent UN population fund report documents increased violence against women in Gaza. “From April to June 2026, the overall number of reported gender based violence incidents increased by 27% compared to the January-to-March period,” the agency, which follows global sexual and reproductive trends, writes in a recent report on Gaza. The suffering of women and girls coincides with Hamas’s efforts to recruit new warriors and reassert its power in major population centers under its control. At the same time, a major drive to blame Israel for the Strip’s suffering intensifies.“The population of Gaza is not suffering because of Israel, it’s suffering because of Hamas,” the head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, Yossi Kuperwasser, tells The New York Sun. “Israel is facilitating ample humanitarian aid, while Hamas, with its refusal to disarm, is blocking any serious progress toward rebuilding the strip. As long as Hamas has the guns, the population under its control will continue to suffer.” While the population fund’s report received little global attention, a new Google Maps satellite imagery from Rafah is lighting up social media. The images from Rafah depict destruction of entire building blocks, adding to allegations of “genocide” committed by Israel. As Israeli officials note, though, the destruction is the result of Hamas embedding its military installations inside civilian structures, including hospitals, mosques, schools, and private homes. The UN Relief and Works Agency is accused by Israel of hosting much of Hamas’s military tunnel entry points and military headquarters. “We will only work with trusted partners who will deliver for the people of Gaza and contribute to a deradicalized Strip,” President Trump-led Board of Peace wrote on X Monday. “UNRWA fails on those litmus tests.”The idea that Gaza must be deradicalized is at the heart of Mr. Trump’s 20-point peace plan. Introduced after last October’s ceasefire agreement that secured the release of all hostages, the plan is yet to outline a way to disarm the terrorist organization. Hamas has suffered major blows since October 2023, including the killing of its top leaders in Gaza. Even as it has lost much of its military power, though, the terror organization now has up to 30,000 mostly new recruits. Mostly young and much less battle-tested than the tens of thousands terrorists killed in the last three years, these new fighters nevertheless are used to rebuild Hamas’s lost powers. “They have quantities, but quality-wise, Hamas is significantly weakened,” Mr. Kuperwasser says. While Israel’s top concern in Gaza is ensuring that terrorists can never again repeat the atrocities of October 7, 2023, the strip’s residents are suffering. War conditions are partially responsible, but so is a culture of abuse that has underlined decades of Hamas control of the strip. Sexual Violence, Abuse of Minors and the Disabled“Sexual violence incidents, including rape and sexual assault, have become critical in Gaza,” the UNFPA is reporting. The agency documented a 123 percent increase in early and forced marriage incidents in the strip. The largest number of rape and abuse of women and girls are recorder in Hamas controlled Gaza City, followed by the town of Deir al Balah. Hamas’s gun-rule also affects anyone who strays from the organization’s path. Gunning down and public humiliation of real and perceived opponents started immediately after last October’s announcement of a ceasefire. This week the IDF published a drone-produced video showing a child carrying arms from one area to another.In another IDF video a man is seen in a wheelchair en route to a warehouse from a hospital. Assuming the IDF would refrain from hitting the disabled, Hamas seems to conceal the man’s task to move weapons to a hiding place. At the end of the video, the supposedly disabled man is seen getting up from his wheel chair and walking gingerly into a narrow alley. Rearming EffortsThere are up to 30,000 armed Hamas men in Gaza, according to Israeli sources. New rocket and missile production lines have been observed by the IDF, and efforts are ongoing to preserve attack tunnels in areas east of the Israeli-held “yellow line,” N12 television’s Ohad Hemo reported on Monday. Mr. Trump hailed on July 30 a “historic breakthrough,” in which Hamas has agreed to hand over most weapons in Gaza for storage and later destruction. The process is yet to start though. Hamas is demanding a complete IDF withdrawal from Gaza before disarmament could commence, while Israel says it wouldn’t go anywhere before Hamas is completely disarmed. Anticipating outside demands, Gazans officially unaffiliated with Hamas are given all types of weapons to be stored in their homes.Rebuilding the Ruins of Gaza“Our humanitarian colleagues warn that funding shortfalls, as well as continued Israeli restrictions are severely limiting preparations for the rainy season,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday, detailing the UN efforts to set up temporary shelters for uprooted Gazans.The UN’s largest agency in the Strip, UNRWA, has been offering “temporary” solutions for Arab descendents of refugees since the Jewish State gained independence in 1948. Before dissolving itself, UNRWA says it anticipates a “political solution” to its clients, which would include the return of millions of Arabs to the Jewish State. While the UN is offering temporary solutions, the American-led Board of Peace envisions a “self sustained, thriving economy that delivers opportunity and better conditions for Palestinians” in Gaza, it wrote on Monday. Last week, during a meeting with potential donors, the board estimated the efforts to rebuild Gaza would come to $71 billion.Hamas is trying every trick in the book to maintain its hold over a troubled piece of land. Turkey, Qatar, and, to a lesser degree, Egypt are pushing to hasten the rebuilding effort even as Hamas is, at best, partially disarmed. Neither the UN nor the Board of Peace, though, can end the suffering as long as armed men control the strip.

On the Third Anniversary of October 7 Massacre of Israelis, Hamas Now Brutalizes Gazans

On the Third Anniversary of October 7 Massacre of Israelis, Hamas Now Brutalizes Gazans

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