Hamas rides wave of support despite Gaza's economic woes

Israeli sanctions have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world, triggering an economic collapse. Yet amid the desperation of ordinary Gazans, Hamas, the Islamist group that took over the area nine months ago, is riding high.

The conflict between Gaza-based militants and the Israeli armed forces has left hundreds of Palestinians dead, including many civilians.

But the popularity of Hamas both in Gaza and in the West Bank has soared over the past three months. More importantly, the Israeli crackdown has failed to weaken its grip on power in the territory itself. According to both international and Palestinian analysts, the group is today more entrenched in Gaza than ever.

"The Israeli sanctions and the siege have backfired," says Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political sciences at Gaza's al-Azhar University. "I would say that Hamas has come out victorious from the siege. They have become more powerful and stronger in terms of equipment and personnel over the last nine months."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0f5223f2-f942-11dc-bcf3-000077b07658.html

and have them act as their proxies.

and have no dog in this fight themselves?

it is a pretty stupid thing, because Hamas is just making the life of Gazans more miserable. The fact that the Gazans continue to support Hamas, and support rocket fire, resistance, to celebrate the deaths of Israelis and herald the martyrs who kill them, over making a good and decent life for themselves, is pretty sick.

I'm not sure how to categorize that in the inside/outside frame you want to use. It does seem to me that Palestinian sources might have something useful to say about Palestinian attitudes. That doesn't, of course, make it a scientific survey. I was mainly taken with the fact that it was published by the Financial Times.