GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — In five years of rule in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has established a functioning, authoritarian mini-state with a strong Islamic flavor, so firmly in control that nothing short of an unlikely Israeli military takeover seems capable of dislodging the militants.
The Islamists of Palestine were once respected as a supposedly honest alternative to corrupt secular rivals, the Western-backed Fatah group led by the late Yasser Arafat. But that luster has mostly been lost as miserable Gaza becomes even poorer and more aid-dependent. The corruption of the Fatah days is perceived to have persisted into Hamas' rule, as Audis, Porsches and Hummers are driven around potholed streets by a newly wealthy class of black market traders who benefit from the regime.

For those inclined to fight Israel, even that appeal was lost as Hamas has mostly stuck to a truce in recent years. On the streets of Gaza, bitterness seems prevalent. "I am not saying Fatah was better, but when I voted for Hamas I voted for change," said Fahmi Khamis, 42, a vendor who sells made-in-China household goods in Gaza City's outdoor market. "This did not happen. Instead, we lost a lot."
Hamas has set up a well-oiled bureaucracy with 24,000 civil servants and a 16,000-strong security force, whose salaries gobble up more than half of the 2012 budget of $769 million, leaving little for services. Only $174 million is expected from local revenues, but Hamas remains tight-lipped about where it gets the rest.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency shoulders much of the burden, providing medical care, schooling and food supplements to the descendants of those displaced by Israel's 1948 creation, a large majority of Gazans. Half of Gaza's children attend U.N.-run schools.
Hamas has systematically silenced dissent. Fatah activists have borne the brunt, mirroring similar crackdowns on Hamas in the West Bank where authoritarian tendencies have also increased. Hamas has also shut down independent media, harassed journalists and prevented some gatherings viewed as undermining its absolute control.

Gazans, many struggling to feed their families and forced to endure hours-long power cuts every day, still feel free to gripe to relatives and friends about life under the Islamists, generally without fear of arrest. However, advancement in government jobs and business opportunities are largely reserved for Hamas loyalists.
As things stand now, it seems Hamas can run Gaza for many more years. Israel eased the blockade two years ago, under mounting international pressure. It also does not seem to have the appetite for another major military offensive, let alone retaking a hostile territory which it occupied from 1967 to 2005.

Hamas is a lovely group. Here is a tourism video.

http://youtu.be/wLjwe2b40YA

an Offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood!
Hold onto your Pant-Seats,Egypt!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i08L09V0_sg