Hamas faces 'legitimacy crisis' as desperate Gazans flock to US-backed aid centers

Fox News

29-05-2025

The terrorist group known as Hamas has long plagued the Gaza Strip but is facing a point of crisis as its influence and support, which was already far from sweeping, continues to drop amid internal pressure to end the war and return the hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
"Hamas's current posture reveals a critical inflection point in its grip over the Gaza Strip," Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst and editor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies "Long War Journal" and an expert on Palestinian terrorist groups, told Fox News Digital. "By opposing the new aid distribution mechanism, one that is coordinated by the U.S. and Israel, Hamas is signaling that its primary concern is not the well-being of Palestinians but the preservation of its authority."
Despite the monthslong aid blockade on the Gaza Strip by Israel and the images of starvation, Hamas this week threatened any Palestinian civilians who accept food aid for their families and warned they "will pay the price, and we will take the necessary measures."
Despite the threats, Palestinians have flooded the aid sites erected by the U.S.-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), reportedly resulting in scenes of chaos as desperate civilians overran one distribution location on Tuesday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its "troops fired warning shots in the area outside the compound," adding, "Control over the situation was established … and the safety of IDF troops was not compromised."
The U.N. Human Rights Office claimed some 47 people were injured during the gunfire, while the Hamas-run health ministry said one person was killed and 48 others were wounded, reported the BBC, though Fox News Digital could not independently verify the casualty count.
On Wednesday, GHF said in a statement that, contrary to reports, no Palestinians have been questioned or detained while receiving aid. Additionally, GHF said that no Palestinians had been shot or killed while trying to get aid.
"As we have repeatedly cautioned, there are many parties who wish to see GHF fail. Their goal is to force a return to the status quo, even if it means risking lifesaving aid to the people of Gaza," the GHF said in a statement. "Reports to the contrary originated from Hamas and are inaccurate."
Truzman explained that it is in Hamas interest to portray the aid delivery as negatively as possible, and to use the chaos to promote its return to power.
"Hamas had significant influence over aid flows, which it used not only for governance but also as leverage to reinforce loyalty, reward patronage networks, and maintain internal control," the expert explained. "The erosion of this influence poses both a symbolic and operational threat to the group.
"With Hamas becoming sidelined from the aid process, the group is facing a legitimacy crisis," Truzman added.
Despite the chaotic scenes that arose as aid finally returned to Gaza, the GHF said Tuesday that it had distributed about 8,000 food boxes totaling 462,000 meals so far.
On Wednesday, eight trucks worth of aid were delivered, which equates to some 378,262 meals.
"Operations will continue to scale up tomorrow," the GHF confirmed.
One Gazan told the Center for Peace Communications that the failure of Hamas, which serves as the local government, to secure affordable and accessible food has driven civilians to the American distribution site.
"In fact, they were good to us," he said. "They were handing out rations cards and started to tell us to take them. Unlike those ruling Gaza who don't do anything for us.
"We, as a people, are telling you that we need anyone, anyone who can provide us with these necessities," he added. "Otherwise, no one would be going to the American distribution point. If Hamas is listening to us, get off the people's backs.
"The people are dying," the man added.
In recent months, civilian populations have not only been turning to external actors for relief where possible, they have increasingly called on Hamas to return the hostages, stop the war and even leave the Gaza Strip.
"This shift undermines Hamas's image as the authority in Gaza and exposes its weakened state," Truzman said.
"However, any assumption that Hamas might yield under these conditions must be tempered by the nature of its surviving leadership," he warned. "Those who remain at the helm are among the most ideologically entrenched and militarily committed members of the organization."
Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 after it defeated its rival party, Fatah, which is part of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Despite the plurality vote nearly two decades ago, Hamas has struggled to maintain control and stability for years and its support – even in the lead up to the 2023 attacks that prompted the largest-ever war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza – was reportedly lacking and its leadership growing increasingly unpopular.
Israel and Egypt have limited the flow of goods into the Gaza Strip for the last two decades, and border crossing restrictions have been heavily enforced since the 1980s. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2025.
However, according to a report by the Wilson Center, only a fraction of the population prior to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks blamed food shortages on external factors like sanctions, while a third blamed the Hamas-run government for mismanagement, while another quarter of the population blamed inflation.
The report also found that nearly half of Palestinian civilians said they had no trust in Hamas' leadership, while roughly a third of the population threw their support behind the group.
Support is believed to have dropped in the nearly 600 days that followed the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks, and the subsequent devastation brought to the Gaza Strip.
"If the new aid mechanism succeeds in improving living conditions for Palestinians, surpassing what Hamas has been able to provide during wartime, it is unlikely to reverse the growing public dissatisfaction with the group," Truzman told Fox News Digital. "Even an imperfect but externally managed aid system may further expose Hamas's governance failures, particularly its prioritization of power retention over the welfare of the population.
"While tangible improvements will take time to materialize, the mere perception that life can improve without Hamas may be enough to shift public attitudes further against the group," he added.