In a rare scene, hundreds of Palestinians raised anti-Hamas slogans at a protest in northern Gaza on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war with Israel, witnesses said.
The demonstrators, mostly males, chanted “Hamas out” and “Hamas terrorists” in Beit Lahia, where they gathered a week after Israel’s military resumed its intense bombing of the Gaza Strip following nearly two months of a truce.
This is being called the “largest anti-Hamas demonstration” since the conflict began in October 2023.
‘Enough with the war’
At least one appeal to protest was circulated on social media platform Telegram, according to news agency AFP.
“I don’t know who organised the protest. But I participated to send a message on behalf of the people: Enough with the war,” said Mohammed, a demonstrator who declined to give his last name fearing reprisals.
Mohammed also claimed he saw “members of the Hamas security forces in civilian clothes” breaking up the protest.
Majdi, another protester who did not wish to give his full name, said the “people are tired”.
“If Hamas leaving power in Gaza is the solution, why don’t they give up power to protect the people?” he asked.
Telegram messages from unknown sources are calling on people to demonstrate in various parts of Gaza on Wednesday too.
Discontent towards Hamas in Gaza?
Levels of discontent towards the Islamist movement, which has been running the Palestinian territory since 2007, are difficult to gauge.
The last available survey, conducted in September 2024 by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, estimated 35 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza said they supported Hamas, while 26 per cent expressed support for its rival Fatah, the party of Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.
Fatah’s spokesman in Gaza, Monther al-Hayek, has called on Hamas to “step aside from governing” to safeguard the “existence” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza war
The Gaza Strip has been devastated by more than 17 months of the Israel-Hamas war, sparked by the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 50,021 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Gazan health ministry.
In January, a ceasefire brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt saw Hamas release some of the Israeli and foreign hostages it had abducted on October 7. In return, Israel set free Palestinian prisoners from its jails. The ceasefire expired on March 18.
Since Israel resumed its military operations in Gaza, at least 792 Palestinians have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
