The prospects of a permanent ceasefire drift through the shattered windows of my home in Gaza City. But for tens of thousands of Gazans like me – who have long protested against Hamas and called for their removal from power – the chance of a fragile peace comes with a sense of looming danger.
I was 11 when Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007. At 23, I co-organised my first protest under the slogan “We Want to Live”. For that “crime”, I was imprisoned and tortured multiple times. Today, at 29, after speaking out once again during Hamas’s war with Israel, I know there will be no leniency if the ceasefire takes effect.
Hamas’s crackdown on dissent is intensifying. Over a dozen people have been killed in recent weeks – one of them a dear friend. Others have had their limbs broken in brutal acts of intimidation. As soon as the ceasefire is announced, Hamas militants will rise from their tunnels, hungry for revenge. Hit lists are already circulating on Telegram.
This is not a cry for pity – it is a warning. If Hamas is allowed to keep paying its fighters and civil servants in Gaza from the comfort of Doha, then the countdown to another October 7 has already begun. The only way to truly defeat Hamas is to build a civil alternative – a government for and by the people of Gaza, firmly opposed to Hamas’s rule. In the shadow of Yahya Sinwar’s suicidal war, a growing number of us believe this tragic cycle can finally be broken.
Our grassroots movement wants a real and lasting peace with Israel, not just a ceasefire. We want the Israeli hostages to go home to their families. We want to end the corruption and repression of Hamas, just as we want freedom from Israeli control. We want jobs. We want education. We want to live.
For every protester who joins us in the streets, ten more are watching quietly, asking whether they too should take the risk. This is the greatest threat Hamas faces today. That is why the idea of a Hamas-free enclave must be central to any credible peace agreement. Such an enclave could be run by local civilians, protected internally by Gazan forces, and externally by neutral parties. Why not launch a pilot zone within the Gaza Strip, and expand it gradually? If it earns legitimacy and credibility, it can grow into a viable administration composed of technocrats and experts – ready to rebuild civil life and serve ordinary Gazans.
In addition to providing an opportunity for Gazans to pilot new forms of self-rule, such enclaves can also address the challenge of distributing humanitarian aid free of Hamas control and theft – a challenge which the newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has yet to fully meet.
The current method of aid distribution needs to be significantly improved to ensure the safety of civilian beneficiaries, the safety of humanitarian workers, and also to guarantee the fair distribution of aid to all residents of the Gaza Strip. Newly empowered Gazans can play a pivotal role in doing so within the framework of a post-Hamas civil administration.
The urgency of addressing Gaza’s aid problem relates, in turn, to the reason the GHF was established to begin with: the bitter legacy of Hamas’s theft and exploitation of humanitarian aid. Since the war began, I have been forced to purchase on the black market, at exorbitant prices, food from donor nations in boxes marked explicitly “not for sale”. Hamas bears responsibility for this tragedy: it diverted aid to fuel its war machine and feed its loyalists, such that it did not reach the people who needed it most. Hamas is desperate to regain control over aid distribution in order to maintain this unjust system which perpetuates Gazan suffering.
Europe and the UK must align more closely with the United States to present a unified and firm international position: one that demands Hamas’s withdrawal from Gaza and the unconditional release of Israeli hostages. If Hamas refuses, then the US, Europe, the UK, and the broader international community must take decisive action to establish enclaves of post-Hamas self-rule – where aid can be delivered securely, and civilians can live without fear. Let Hamas face its own fate – far from Gaza’s population.
Yes, the two-state solution is important, but what’s even more urgent is a process of de-radicalisation. After the war, in a “safe zone”, we must begin to rebuild a society that believes in peace. We need a new curriculum, one that eliminates extremist ideologies. We need a new intellectual revolution before we can even begin to talk about long-term political solutions.
I always say: Hamas is not Gaza, and Gaza is not Hamas. War does not have to be a self-fulfilling prophecy for our peoples. The air in Gaza has been thick with fear for more than 18 years. But that fear is beginning to lift. Now is our chance to step in and build a future – before it returns with a vengeance.
Moumen al-Natour is a lawyer, co-founder of the We Want to Live movement, and president of Palestinian Youth for Development
