Writing in the Washington Post‘s Monkey Cage blog, Nonresident Senior Fellow Amaney Jamal and Michael Robbins examine the efficacy of the blockade against Hamas in Gaza.

Weakening Hamas is one of the key reasons for maintaining the controversial blockade of Gaza. Hamas says that there will be no truce without a lifting of the blockade, while Israel’s central demand is a disarming of the Gaza Strip. What do we really know about the effectiveness of the blockade in achieving this aim? Has the blockade of Gaza in fact substantially weakened Hamas?

Not really. The available evidence demonstrates that at least in terms of Palestinian public opinion, Hamas is now stronger than when these policies went into effect.

To read the full article, click here.