Special to WorldTribune.com

GAZA CITY — The Hamas regime has been wary over the prospect of increasing unrest in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources said the Islamist regime has sought to prevent unauthorized demonstrations and other expressions of protest in the Gaza Strip.

The sources said Hamas’ military took over internal security while Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh promised to meet students and intellectuals amid the establishment of an opposition movement in neighboring Egypt.

“For the first time, Hamas has become aware that force can’t be the only answer to civil opposition,” a source said.

The sources said Haniyeh conducted meetings with intellectuals in late 2013 and early 2014. They said the prime minister was inundated by complaints of rising unemployment, taxes as well as lack of freedom.

The economic hardship has increased amid the Egyptian shutdown of most of the Palestinian smuggling tunnel network to the Sinai Peninsula. The network was said to have comprised of more than 20,000 people, making it the largest employer outside of the government. In mid-2013, Hamas, with a reported 45,000 civil servants, began to collect taxes on cigarettes and tobacco.

“I lost more than $100,000 last month after [the security forces]
confiscated a large amount of tobacco that was to be brought into Gaza via
the tunnels,” Palestinian cigarette dealer Raid Al Shaar told the
London-based Al-Monitor website.

One scenario was that Hamas could be rocked by protests that overthrew
regimes in such countries as Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. On Jan. 10, a young
Gazan man threatened to jump off the roof of his Rafah home unless he met
Haniyeh to discuss economic conditions.

The young comprises about 30 percent of the Gazan population. The Hamas
Youth Ministry, merged with the Sports Ministry, consisted of six staffers
and a budget of $90,000.

“Moreover, there should be young blood in the ministry, since 50- and
60-year-olds will not understand the desires and interests of the youth,”
Fatima Abdullah, a 27-year-old Gazan, wrote on Facebook.

Two days after the attempted suicide protest in Rafah, Haniyeh scheduled
a meeting with a delegation of young people. At the last
minute, the prime minister canceled the session.

“Since Prime Minister Haniyeh is preoccupied with urgent engagements,
his bureau declares that the scheduled meeting with the youth will be
canceled,” the prime minister’s office said. “We hope to schedule another
one soon.”

  Egypt’s crackdown putting squeeze on Gaza economy, Gaza City, Hamas regime, Ismail Haniyeh, Sinai Peninsula