“Basma,” a licensed pharmacist in Gaza, was repeatedly harassed by Hamas over her affiliation with Fatah. After she opened her own pharmacy, Hamas priced her out of the market, forcing her to shut it down.

Hamas rule in Gaza, which began in 2007 after a lethal battle with Fatah and PA officers, has been marked by a combination of violent and nonviolent tactics aimed at eliminating all political opposition. In the years following the Hamas takeover, PA officials accused Hamas of “turning its rifles in the direction of Fatah members,” and local rights groups documented continual abuse and periodic killings. In 2014, Amnesty International’s report ‘Strangling Necks’: Abductions, Torture, and Summary Killings of Palestinians by Hamas Forces During the 2014 Gaza/Israel Conflict documented “serious abuses against Fatah members and former members of the PA security forces in Gaza, including abductions, torture, shootings, and other assaults.”

Less lurid, but more ubiquitous in daily life, are the various means by which Hamas has created a patronage network that bestows benefit on its members while shutting out other Palestinians. Tens of thousands have been hired and promoted in the civil service based on loyalty to the movement, while many others have been granted profitable stakes in Hamas-owned businesses. Meanwhile, doctors and other medical professionals have been summarily dismissed for retaining ties to Fatah. Indeed, despite the Strip’s chronic healthcare crisis, whole clinics have been forced to shut down for the same reason.