In the absence of external assistance, the massacre will continue.
The Washington Post publishes an unexpected piece about the "other Gaza," where, unlike the commonly portrayed image, people want to live, not die; they dream of seeing their children not as martyrs but as workers. And - most surprisingly - where Israel is viewed not as an enemy but as a hope that one day these dreams will come true.
The text (The ceasefire created two Gazas. One will consume the other) was written by Mumin al-Natour, the founder of the We Want to Live movement and a former political prisoner of Hamas, who spent the entire war in Gaza. He remains there now.
"President Donald Trump's ceasefire has split Gaza into two parallel realities - on either side of the 'yellow line,' which the Israel Defense Forces retreated behind as part of the first stage of the agreement. On one side is Gaza, desperately wishing for the successful implementation of Trump's plan; on the other is Gaza, which is being pulled back into the abyss.
These two Gazas cannot coexist for long. Soon one will consume the other. The fighting over the past weekend only underscores how fragile this balance remains.
The Gaza I want to live in is between Israel and the 'yellow line.' Here, the war is over, and change is in the air. Few speak of Hamas with warmth or approval. And perhaps for the first time, no one is forcing them to do so.
I have been involved in Gaza's underground civil movement for many years. All this time, we have been preparing for the moment when a chance would arise to free ourselves from the brutal rule of Hamas and break the vicious cycle of wars with Israel. That moment has come. For this opportunity, I have protested and suffered my entire life.
But on the other side of the 'yellow line' exists another Gaza that will do everything to prevent this from happening. There, the war continues. No longer between Hamas and Israel, but between Hamas and Gaza itself.
It has been less than two weeks since the signing of the agreement and the withdrawal of IDF soldiers when Hamas emerged from underground and began to restore its power in the most brutal way. Its new emergence was accompanied by a horrifying massacre directed against any dissent - real or imagined, past or present.
With no Israelis in their sights, no hostages to torture, and no leaders capable of giving them a new identity, Hamas militants unleash their humiliation and rage on Palestinians who simply found themselves on the wrong side of the 'yellow line' at the moment the war ended.
Public executions, shootings around hospitals - Hamas's brutality against Palestinians has become so barbaric and sadistic that it seems their true enemy is the Palestinians, not the Israelis.
Hamas's cruelty towards Israeli hostages did not come from nowhere - it has been honed for years on Palestinian bodies - without any international outrage.
During the war, journalist Ahmed al-Masri was mutilated by Hamas, his limbs shattered, and then left to die on the street while his family was forced to watch his suffering.
If we do not stand against Hamas now, as it kills Palestinians and openly violates the terms of the peace agreement, we will show it that the world will quietly watch as it regains the rest of Gaza, trampling our hopes and dreams once and for all. Such an outcome will be a tragedy not only for the Palestinians but for the entire world."
In conclusion, the author writes that the only way to help Gaza is to disarm Hamas and follow the path outlined in Trump's plan. Let it not be in cooperation with Israel, but with gratitude for the hope it has given Gaza for change.
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