Gaza After the Ceasefire | The New Yorker

The Gaza Strip is more or less divided between half controlled by Hamas and half controlled by the Israelis. How has this changed the lives of Gazans?

As for the Israeli-controlled half of the Gaza Strip, they don’t allow anyone to enter, and anyone who approaches what they call the yellow line can be shot or killed. So, all the residents of Gaza live in the area controlled by Hamas, which does not allow us to access our agricultural lands, for example, or the landfills. There are also towns on the other side, although they have been largely demolished. Factories and industrial zones are also on this side. There were also several sewage treatment plants. It’s an essential part of Gaza, which is so small. This really creates a difficult situation.

Is one of your fears that this will become a long-term border and that the Gaza Strip and the people who live there will be stuck permanently in the part of Gaza that they are in now?

No, I think we have a ceasefire agreement. We have a Trump plan, and we are sure, or hope, that the Trump plan will work and that President Trump will be able, if not to convince, at least to force the Israelis to stick to the plan and withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Is that your hope, you say?

That’s hope, and we actually think it’s very likely to happen.

Is there any reason you’re more hopeful about this than I am?

[Laughs.] Because I want to believe it. This is our only hope. The situation cannot really continue like this.

How would you describe the current attitude towards Hamas in the Gaza Strip?

In what sense? They control everything in Gaza. They are trying to improve the situation in Gaza. They keep us safe, which is the most important thing. We cannot leave things in a vacuum. If you leave New York in a vacuum, without security, without police, what will happen? Same thing in Gaza. So we are very satisfied with the fact that they are providing security in Gaza. For example, before the ceasefire agreement was signed, there was widespread looting of humanitarian aid, and these looters were supported. These were militias supported and protected by Israel. The main one was the Abu Shabab group. They looted the trucks, then took refuge in areas controlled by Israel. It stopped. This has stopped because the de facto government is stopping them.

I know that many prominent businessmen, including you, decided to write a letter to Trump asking him to end the war, just before the ceasefire took effect. Some of the people who signed this letter have been very critical of Hamas in other forums. Was there a division over the degree of criticism in the letter?

Anyone in Gaza can criticize Hamas. It’s not serious. We have the freedom to talk about Hamas or anyone else. [Palestinians in Gaza, including journalists, have been physically assaulted for criticizing or reporting negatively on Hamas. Since the ceasefire went into effect, Hamas has also carried out executions of people whom it claims were political rivals or collaborators with Israel.] I mean, it’s a personal opinion, so there’s nothing wrong with it. Is this your question? Maybe I didn’t understand your question.

Well, I know you said you thought the Palestinian Authority would be better able to achieve a long-term solution and a two-state solution, which you advocate for.

Well, that’s our only hope, actually. We want to be united with the West Bank, and the Palestinian Authority is the best scenario for that. We hope we will have elections. I mean, the Palestinians deserve to decide and to have elections – they deserve to choose their representatives and to have an exchange of authority.

That’s true, because the last elections in Gaza took place about twenty years ago, right?

Exactly. Yes.

Can you talk a little about your work?

I am president of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. We are here trying to help our members get their papers to reactivate their bank accounts or to start businesses both outside and inside Gaza. We try to help them organize local markets and coordinate or even establish a network for them with humanitarian actors. And we do training. But we can’t do much because of Israeli restrictions. They even prevent the supply of fuel to the private sector. They prevent the entry of agricultural seeds like tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., with the aim of keeping all people dependent on humanitarian aid and preventing them from being productive. So my job is very difficult, because I can’t do much, but we are trying to promote, for example, electronic payments, because all the bank notes in Gaza, the cash, are worn out and Israel does not allow us to replace these notes.

So we do a lot of advocacy work. We collect information on local markets, on certain economic indicators. We produce reports in this regard. We are raising awareness of the situation among the international community and humanitarian actors so that they can be informed when developing plans. We also carry out very small projects, trying to help people in the food production sector to start or improve their businesses, but we carry out very limited interventions due to lack of funding and production equipment.

Many people in your situation or in similar positions managed to leave Gaza during the war. You didn’t do it. Can you explain why you stayed?

Yes. When the war started, I was new to my job: I was elected in early 2023, and nine months later the war broke out. I felt I had to stay with the people who elected me in Gaza. I love Gaza so much and I don’t think I can stay outside of Gaza for long. And what am I going to do outside? As a Palestinian, it is very difficult to be somewhere outside. And I know a lot of people are in Egypt right now, but they’re in a difficult economic situation. Of course, I didn’t think it would last this long. But I’m very happy that I didn’t leave, because staying out of Gaza for so long is not an easy thing.

I know that the humanitarian situation is still not great. I know people are still dying. I’m just curious how it feels in the Gaza Strip and whether or not people have regained hope in the last two months since the ceasefire.