Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip – Despite promises from Hamas leaders that their victory over rival Fatah forces has ushered in an era of security for the Gaza Strip, residents Tuesday expressed more concern than hope about the future of their impoverished coastal territory.
Nowhere was there greater uncertainty than the Erez border crossing, where about 400 Palestinians huddled for a third day inside a no man’s land separating northern Gaza and Israel. Many said they feared revenge attacks after Hamas routed loyalists of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction last week.
Israel, wary of Gazans crossing its land to the Fatah-controlled West Bank, barred their entry.
Those stuck at the crossing have been waiting in a squalid concrete tunnel without bathrooms or food. Some had stories about Hamas fighters killing their relatives in the violence that convulsed Gaza during the last few months. Others said that with the new Hamas regime in control, they have no chance of ever working again in Gaza.
“We are sure that they’ll kill us,” said Abu Eyad, a former policeman associated with Fatah who sat in the tunnel with his family. “We prefer life here as refugees than death back there.”
Life away from the border crossing, however, went on as usual. Shops and markets in Gaza City, about 5 miles away from the crossing, were doing brisk business, with some shoppers expressing relief that the latest wave of violence was over.
“We hope for the best now,” said Maha Rizq. “We are interested in safety and security. Fatah didn’t bring it, so we have to trust that Hamas can do better.”
