Strawman argument? More like a question regarding the feasibility of your suggestion of Palestinians eliminating Hamas, given the temperament and activities of Hamas's 'government'. Of course WE eliminate with our vote, but WE live in functional democracies. Not the case in Gaza where Hamas hasn't allowed any further elections since 2006.
Hamas ran on a “kill-all-Jews” platform preceding its 2006 election victory. Hamas’ 1988 charter contained anti-Semitic statements such as, "Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious," and this charter remained in place ahead of the 2006 elections.
Palestinians were fed up with corruption among Fatah leadership. When they chose Hamas, it was arguably more because of the corruption and failure of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah than because of religion or terrorism. Hamas capitalized on widespread discontent with years of Fatah corruption and ineffectiveness. Hamas and their anti-Semitic charter was voted in.
Palestinian territories have not had an election since 2006, for (at least) four reasons:
- Other countries such as the U.S. rejected Hamas' 2006 election victory, deepening political tensions in Gaza and the West Bank. The international community wants Hamas to recognize Israel, denounce violence, and commit to the Oslo Accords, which Hamas cannot or will not do explicitly or put to a vote.
- President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who controls Fatah in the West Bank has a fear of losing elections again. They (Fatah) do not want to lose again. Elections in Palestinian territories are quite embarrassing for Fatah and exacerbate existing internal divisions.
- It might be said, the Israeli government's intervention has "fractured Palestinian national movements." Perhaps the Israelis want to foster divisions between the two regions, Gaza and the West Bank, and do not want unified Palestinian leadership.
- A Palestinian legislative election was set to take place in May 2021, but Abbas postponed it indefinitely, citing Israel's refusal to include East Jerusalem in the elections. Israel’s refusal to let people in East Jerusalem vote in the planned election gave Abbas (Fatah) an excuse to not allow elections that year. So it was a Palestinian decision not have another vote. And that helped Fatah avoid another loss.
In June of 2023 this year, a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) revealed that if an election were held at that time, Hamas would likely win 56% of the vote to Abbas’ (Fatah) 33%. Apparently 11% were unsure. The survey also found a majority of Palestinians supported the formation of armed groups independent of the Palestinian Authority (Fatah in the West Bank) ... thus Hamas.
I won't clutter the post with various links that came from active and engaged research available to everyone on the Internet.