Disarming Gaza: The 'Police' They Want to Erase
📰 THE STORY: Al-Monitor reports that Hamas is seeking to incorporate its 10,000 police officers into a new US-backed Palestinian administration for Gaza, a 'demand likely to be opposed by Israel,' as the group debates 'whether to surrender its arms.' It frames this as a post-ceasefire negotiation where Hamas's existing security forces are somehow illegitimate. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU:
Historical Context: In 2006, Palestinians freely elected Hamas in a democratic election. The international community, led by the US and Israel, immediately rejected the results and imposed a suffocating blockade the following year. This wasn't about 'terrorism'; it was about rejecting Palestinian self-determination. The 'police' Hamas developed were a necessity to maintain order and services in a
territory deliberately suffocated and fragmented by the Israeli occupation, intensified by the 2007 blockade that turned Gaza into an open-air prison. Hamas did not 'seize' control; they filled a power vacuum deliberately created by external forces after their democratic victory was nullified. Double Standard: Imagine any sovereign nation being told its domestic police force must be 'disarmed' or
'integrated' into an external power's imposed administration. Would the US ever agree to its local police being disbanded and replaced by an international force after an election deemed inconvenient by Russia or China? Or would NATO demand that Ukraine's existing security apparatus be dismantled in any 'peace talks'? The very premise applied to Gaza is that Palestinians do not deserve the same