Reports of luxury travel fuel resentment against Hamas leadership

Chaled Schurrab had waited half his life to be able to leave his homeland. At 27, he had never seen anything but the isolated Gaza Strip. Finding a job was almost impossible there – youth unemployment is more than 60 percent. So he packed a suitcase and traveled to Turkey. From there he wanted to cross over to Greece. But his boat went down and Schurrab disappeared into the sea.

Again and again people from the Gaza Strip who hope for a better life in Europe drown during the dangerous sea voyage across the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, a completely different exodus is taking place in the coastal area blocked by Israel and Egypt since 2007: Dozens of leading members of the radical Islamic Hamas, which governs the impoverished Palestinian territory, have taken up residence in upscale hotels abroad.

The economic situation in the area with around 2.3 million inhabitants is catastrophic. Four wars against Israel and other minor skirmishes over the past few years have left their mark - in the form of direct casualties, but also in the form of damage and further aggravated isolation. Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by western countries, rules with an iron fist. In view of the increasing number of drowning migrants on the one hand and the luxury life of the leadership on the other hand, there have been protests recently.

Israel and Egypt justify their blockade by saying that Hamas must be prevented from importing weapons.

"I blame the rulers here, the government of Gaza," says Schurrab's mother, Um Mohammed. "They live in luxury while our children eat dirt, emigrate and die abroad."

Hamas says the leaders who have traveled to other countries plan to return. So far, however, more and more members of the organization seem to be turning their backs on their homeland. Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh moved to Qatar with his wife and several children in 2019. Political leader Fathi Hamad has lived in Istanbul for a year and from there often flies to Beirut, where the media has shown him meeting at a five-star hotel.

According to media reports, senior official Chalil al-Hajja also settled in Turkey last year. Since his move, he is said to have only returned to the Gaza Strip twice for short visits. Former government spokesman Taher Nunu and leader Ibrahim Salah now live in the Qatari capital, Doha. As the organization has reported through its own channels, Salah al-Bardawil, Sami Abu Suhri and dozens of other prominent Hamas members have also relocated to Doha, Istanbul or Beirut.

In Turkey, which has long been generous in issuing visas to members of Hamas, several children of Hamas leaders run lucrative real estate businesses for their parents. This is what a Palestinian businessman familiar with the activities of these companies said against promises of anonymity.

According to Azmi Keshawi, a Gaza expert at the Brussels-based organization International Crisis Group, the trips abroad have in some cases actually helped Hamas leaders coordinate with key outside supporters.

Nevertheless, they would have contributed to an image problem at home, he says. Once upon a time, Palestinian leaders lived and fought among the common people, but now they are far removed from the suffering of the populace. "Definitely people talk about it and make comparisons in anger."

In order to avoid unfavorable reactions, Hamas usually refrains from commenting on media reports about the exodus of the leadership. When new revelations are circulated on social media, she portrays the stays abroad as temporary trips that would only serve to secure further support. However, some of the “journeys” have been dragging on for several years.

Public protests erupted in December during a memorial service for several young people who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Desperate relatives accused Hamas of having contributed significantly to the decay and chaos in the Gaza Strip and accused the Islamist extremists of nepotism and corruption. Mourners called out the names of some Hamas leaders and slogans like "The people are the victims."

Such public rebellion is rare in the Gaza Strip. As a rule, any signs of dissent are quickly suppressed by Hamas. According to a recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 43 percent would still support Hamas if there were parliamentary elections in the area. At the same time, more and more people seem to be risking everything to escape life in the Gaza Strip.

A report by the Council on International Relations - Palestine institute, which is close to Hamas, said in November that more than 60,000 young people had fled the Gaza Strip in recent years. The institute did not say how the data for the report was collected.

In October alone, two boats carrying many migrants from the Gaza Strip sank. About 360 people from the Mediterranean area have drowned or disappeared since 2014, according to the Geneva-based organization Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. That doesn't deter many young people given the bleak prospects at home.

Chaled Moharreb trained as a nurse but has not found a job for two years. “I would like to emigrate to build a life for myself,” says the 22-year-old. Anything is better than "this place where you can't do anything and the government doesn't care." Without naming Hamas directly, he blames "those who control and govern the country" for the lack of job opportunities.

Meanwhile, Hamas shows little sympathy for the drowned. MP Atef Adwan recently accused those trying to flee to Europe of making a perverse pilgrimage to a land of "decay and decline".

However, in the face of increasing criticism, the organization released a statement last year announcing the return of the three leading members Al-Hajja, Al-Sahar and Salah. Just two months later, it was revealed that Al-Hajja and Salah had started new "trips" to Qatar and Iran.