Israelis and pro-Palestinian supporters are sharing these images on social media. Palestinians say that “𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑮𝒂𝒛𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍, 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍” before 7 October 2023, while Israelis frame them as a warning: “𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑰𝒔𝒓𝒂𝒆𝒍.” However, both sides overlooked the central point: pro-Palestinian supporters were right that, before 7 October, people in Gaza lived normal, happy, and peaceful lives with the basic necessities needed to survive. Before 7 October, much of the world singled out Israel, blaming it for making life in Gaza difficult and describing the Gaza Strip as an open-air prison. I have a simple question for anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists: 𝒊𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑮𝒂𝒛𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒍, 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍, 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝑮𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒛𝒂 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏-𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏? Which position is accurate, the claim repeated for decades or the more recent assertion that life was peaceful before 7 October? You cannot own and use both claims at the same time. Can you? The fact is that life in Gaza was normal, peaceful, and happy. Many Gazans lived in luxury, running multimillion-dollar businesses and residing in comfortable homes with private swimming pools. High-end hotels near the beach charged $200-$300 per night. 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑧𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 7 𝑂𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑗𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑢𝑥𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠. Life changed dramatically for Gazans after 7 October: many went from having homes and businesses to living in tents and relying on aid. The fact is that Hamas, not Israel, caused this outcome by attacking Israel and bringing severe consequences upon Gazans. Hamas operated tunnels beneath homes, hospitals, schools, and luxury hotels, leaving Israel with no alternative but to destroy them to eliminate the group. 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.