Hamas: Yet Another Terrorist Organization That Represses Women’s Rights
A reader responding to my recent The Gateway Pundit article, While U.S. Liberals Support Hamas, the Taliban Continues to Wage War on Women, rightly pointed out that Hamas and the Taliban are distinct terrorist organizations and should not be conflated.
As a result, it makes sense to write a separate article focused on the repression of women by Hamas. This also provides an opportunity to once again highlight the hypocrisy of liberals who claim to support women’s rights while simultaneously supporting the Hamas terrorist organization, which actively oppresses women and denies them some of the most basic rights enjoyed by the very liberal women defending them.
The current Middle East crisis stems from the October 7 attacks by Hamas, during which 1,200 people—including women, children, the elderly, and Holocaust survivors—were killed, and 251 were abducted. Hamas committed horrific crimes against women, including rape and torture, while also denying humanitarian assistance to Israeli women and girls held captive since 2023.
In addition to the Israeli victims of Hamas’s attacks on women, there is the repression of women in Gaza, driven by Hamas’s role in perpetuating these abuses. Palestinian women in Gaza endure profound suffering, with many killed, injured, displaced, and denied basic rights such as access to medical care. Reports highlighted that Hamas has used women as both targets and instruments in their broader conflict strategies, depriving them of freedom and safety.
Separate from the crimes committed by Hamas against women during the current conflict, Gaza’s laws inherently discriminate against women, reflecting a broader pattern of systemic inequality. Ironically, the liberals, including women and LGBTQ+ activists in the U.S. who protest in support of Gaza, would not be permitted to hold such protests in Gaza due to its restrictive laws. Consensual same-sex sexual conduct is banned in Gaza.
Although Gaza does not operate under a fully implemented Sharia law system like some Islamic republics, much of its governance and legal framework is heavily influenced by Islamic law, particularly under Hamas’s rule since 2007. These influences are evident in personal status laws governing marriage, divorce, and inheritance, which are based on Islamic jurisprudence and enforced through Sharia courts. Social policies further reflect this conservative interpretation of Islam, with women pressured to adhere to modest Islamic dress codes and gender segregation strictly enforced in schools, workplaces, and public spaces.
Despite the strong influence of Islamic principles, Gaza’s legal system does not fully adhere to Sharia law in areas like criminal law, where harsher Sharia penalties such as hudud (e.g., amputations or stoning) are not implemented. Practical challenges, including Gaza’s political situation, international scrutiny, and diverse societal views, have prevented the imposition of a strictly Sharia-based system. Nonetheless, the combination of religiously influenced laws and societal norms continues to restrict the rights and freedoms of women in Gaza.
In summary, while not a full Sharia-based legal system, Gaza’s civil and legal practices under Hamas are significantly shaped by Sharia law, particularly in personal and family matters.
Women are subjected to discriminatory personal status laws influenced by religious principles, denying them equal rights in matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Gender-based violence is rampant, with 59% of married women reporting domestic abuse, yet less than 2% of survivors file complaints due to cultural and systemic barriers. Hamas’s condemnation of initiatives promoting equal treatment for all genders as “deviance.” These restrictions exemplify the broader pattern of systemic repression under Hamas, where legal frameworks and societal norms severely limit the freedoms of women.
In 2021, Gaza’s Supreme Judicial Council issued a directive allowing male guardians to apply for court orders to prevent unmarried women from traveling, citing potential “absolute harm.” This rule permits a guardian to block a woman’s travel even before a court ruling. Such restrictions have real consequences, as demonstrated by the case of a 19-year-old woman who was prevented from traveling abroad to study after her father obtained a judicial travel ban.
Additionally, Hamas requires male guardians to apply for their children’s passports, even in cases where women have legal custody following a divorce. These policies stand in stark contrast to other regions where women can apply for their children’s passports independently, such as areas managed by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Other restrictions imposed by Hamas include past bans on women riding motorcycles and participating in public events like marathons. While some of these rules are reportedly less enforced today, women traveling abroad often face questioning from border officials about male guardian permission, a practice that has become more common in recent years. These laws and practices illustrate the systemic repression of women under Hamas’s rule in Gaza.
Women are pressured to adhere to conservative Islamic dress codes, limiting their autonomy over personal attire. Employment opportunities for women are limited by societal norms and institutional barriers, discouraging workforce participation. Personal status laws, rooted in Islamic jurisprudence, disadvantage women in marriage, divorce, and child custody cases, with their testimony often holding less weight than that of men in family courts. Moreover, domestic violence is inadequately addressed, leaving survivors with limited legal protection or recourse.
It is not a right-wing conspiracy theory, nor is it rooted in racism or hate, for conservatives to point out that women’s rights are violated under Hamas in Gaza—it is simply a fact, as outlined above.
Given that this information is readily accessible, it raises serious questions about how liberals in the West continue to support Hamas, why they have failed to object to these restrictions, and, even more troubling, how some dismiss these realities as misinformation, despite the clear evidence of repression faced by women in Gaza.
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