URGENT: Hamas is waging a campaign of incitement against a new children’s initiative in Gaza that provides food, healthcare, and a decent education to thousands of children. The Gaza Children’s Village was established in Deir El-Balah in 2025 by Palestinian-American neurosurgeon David Hassan. In addition to providing food aid, tents, tarps, and basic household goods to families of children who attend its programs, it provides traumatised children with health care and counselling as well as education. Thousands of parents and children are benefiting from these free services, and thousands more await its expansion so that they too can participate. Apparently, Hamas views this phenomenon as a threat. That is why over the past few days, Hamas surrogates have begun to vilify the Gazan Children’s Villages to their hundreds of thousands of local followers on social media. They warn that Hamas-affiliated teachers who apply for jobs are not being hired. They denounce the initiative for admitting a 13-year-old Palestinian girl who had been expelled from another school for refusing to wear a hijab. They also demonise the Gaza Children’s Village by levelling charges which, to Hamas followers, qualify as grounds to murder the school’s personnel. These include the claim that the school advocates “normalisation” with Israel; that it teaches “tolerance, respect for differences, conflict resolution, and peaceful coexistence with children from Israel”; and that the philanthropists who donate to it include some diaspora Jews and Israelis. Palestinians know well where such posts lead. After Hamas surrogates begin to publish them, massive Hamas platforms such as “Radi” (Deterrence) and “Imsik ‘Amil” (Catch a Collaborator) repost them. These outlets serve in turn as hit lists for Hamas’s armed, so-called “Arrow Unit,” which bears responsibility for abducting, torturing, and murdering designated enemies. As a Palestinian who cares about the future of Gaza, I fully support Gaza Children’s Village. It is exactly what Gazans need to rejuvenate their society, and undo the ruin Hamas brought over 20 years of control over Gaza. The claim that the organisation supports engaging Israelis, moreover, only furthers its value: Israel and its people are the Palestinians’ neighbours, they are not going anywhere, and their buy-in and support for rebuilding the strip will be absolutely crucial to achieve success. So the moment I witnessed Hamas attacking this initiative, I made a donation to Gaza Children’s Village and wrote this post to raise alarms. I hope everyone around the world who considers themselves pro-Palestinian will also offer their support. In particular, I hope the United States and all its allies including Qatar and Turkey upon whom Hamas relies for sustenance will do their part as well to send a clear message to Hamas that its campaign against Gazan children and parents will not stand. xitter.cf/PeaceComCenter/status/…

Many Gazan Palestinians I know (and others I hear in interviews) want reconstruction and peace, but fear weapons proliferation and a deepening so-called “culture of death.” In this video, they call for rebuilding a culture of hope, civility, and coexistence.

I agree with this. Gazan Palestinian dissident Amin Abed calls for the disarmament of Hamas but warns: "The problem will not end simply by disarming Hamas." He says: "we also need to build a national and humanistic mindset that can confront the extremist ideology".