Hamas Support Surge in West Bank Undermines Netanyahu’s Bid to Crush It

  • Truce to allow for exchange of captives enters seventh day
  • Armed Hamas fighters are dug in in tunnels beneath Gaza
Palestinians wave Hamas flags as they wait for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Ramallah in the West Bank, on Nov. 27.Photographer: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images
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As Palestinians celebrated Israel’s release of prisonersBloomberg Terminal outside Ramallah’s sand-colored municipality last Friday, green Hamas flags dotted the crowd and young men donned green caps, the latest signs of the Islamist group’s growing popularity on the West Bank.

Support for Hamas was also evident outside the city’s Abdel Nasser Mosque a few hours earlier, when hundreds of worshipers protested after morning prayers against the war Israel is waging against its forces in Gaza.