Hamas loses support in Gaza

Support for Hamas among Gaza Strip's Palestinians is waning, as Gazans become more and more disillusioned with their rulers, who seem more focused on the conflict with Israel than the various problems plaguing their own population. The Guardian reported Thursday that despite the popularity boost Hamas experienced in the wake of the Shalit prisoner exchange, Gazans are finding it exceedingly difficult to ignore the corruption tainting their government; as well as its "single focus" on Israel, which takes precedence over any other pressing civilian issue. Movement official Ismail Radwan told the Guardian, "The people are now looking up to Hamas..With the prisoner release, Hamas has given to the people what no other faction has given. If there is an election tomorrow we will win even more votes than before." 

Still, the political gain achieved by Hamas seems to be fading and the civil discontent with the militant Islamist movement's five-year rule is rising amid suppression of political opposition and the constant claim that the violent resistance to Israel must remain more important than even the dire unemployment situation in the Strip.