Palestinians in Gaza hold rare protest against Israel and Hamas

In a rare moment since the start of Israel’s genocide of Gaza, and over two consecutive days, thousands of Palestinians in the war-torn coastal enclave took to the streets to hold popular marches directed against the Israeli occupation and Hamas. 

The protesters demanded an immediate end to the war that has devastated their lives and more strikingly, lots of chants called for an end to Hamas’s political rule, a rare and dangerous public challenge to the movement that has controlled Gaza since 2007.

The protests first erupted on Tuesday in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip and quickly spread to other governorates, reflecting deep-seated frustration over the ongoing violence and the deterioration of humanitarian conditions. 

‘Enough bloodshed’

As the sun set over the crumbling skyline of Gaza, the sounds of protest mixed with the distant echo of explosions and the hum of Israeli drones overhead. 

Demonstrators held torn Palestinian flags and handmade signs, some scrawled with desperate messages such as “We want to live!” and “Enough bloodshed!”

Among the protesters was Mohammed Al-Kilani, 35, an Arabic language teacher and father of two. “We are not numbers on the news. We are people with homes, families, and dreams. We are tired of wars that steal our lives from us every time. Every day, I leave the house, unsure if I will return to see my children or if I will even be here for them tomorrow. We want to live, but everything around us is killing life,” he told The New Arab. 

He struggles daily to secure food and clean water, but his greatest challenge is maintaining hope for his children. “Every day, I tell my children to be patient, but patience has limits. My youngest son asks me, ‘Dad, why don’t we have a home like the children in this world?’ What should I tell him?” he remarked. 

Mahmoud Al-Hawajri, a 27-year-old construction worker who lost his job due to Israel’s war, expressed a similar helplessness.

“I have the right to live in my home safely. I have the right to walk the streets of my city without fear of bombing or arrest. We are tired of being victims of politics and war. We are human beings with dignity. We are tired of false promises. We want to see real change in our lives,” he said to TNA. 

“The protests are not only a rejection of war, but they are a desperate plea for normalcy, dignity, and a life beyond the shadow of death and destruction,” al-Hawajri added. 

Rare discontent toward Hamas

What distinguished these demonstrations from previous ones was that the anger was not directed solely at Israel, but also included discontent toward Hamas. 

Levels of discontent towards Hamas in Gaza are difficult to gauge, in part because of its intolerance for public expressions of dissent.

Yet, in these protests, Hamas was openly blamed for its part in facilitating the dire humanitarian conditions, mismanaging Gaza’s affairs and prioritising military objectives over the welfare of civilians.

Abu Khaled Abu Rayash, 50, a shop owner who lost his business in an Israeli airstrike, voiced his frustration to TNA, “My livelihood is gone, my house is destroyed, my children are displaced, and they [Hamas leaders] tell us to be patient.”

“Patience has limits. I worked my whole life to build this shop, and today, my family and I live on aid that we waited for months,” he added.

For his part, Khalil al-Attar, 19, a high school student, expressed anger at being robbed of his future. “We want to study. We want to learn. We want to build our future and not continue to live between war, siege, and constant death. Why is the world silent? Why must our lives remain suspended between death and fear?” he remarked to TNA. 

Over 18 months of Israel’s genocidal war, several senior officials of Hamas issued “controversial and provocative statements”, which fomented the population’s discontent. 

Khaled Meshaal, Hamas’s former political bureau chief, once described Gaza’s casualties as “tactical losses.” Meanwhile, Osama Hamdan, a member of the political bureau, once claimed to media outlets that “losses are not measured by the number of civilians killed, but by the strength of the resistance.” And Ghazi Hamad, a senior official of Hamas, remarked in an interview, “Even if Israel kills 20,000 or 100,000, we will not be defeated.”

Such provocative statements made by Hamas leaders in exile have only added fuel to the fire for many Palestinians in Gaza. Salem Abu Salama, a participant in the current protest, emphasised this sentiment to TNA, “We’ve seen nothing from them but provocative statements. Hamas leaders abroad live in hotels and talk about steadfastness and sacrifice while we bury our children under the rubble. Where were they when we needed help?”

Basel Al-Hattab, another protester from Gaza City, noted as well, “We stood by Hamas, even if we were not its supporters, during the war and sacrificed everything. How lucky are we to be called traitors now? They left us alone during the war to face death without any protection.”

What made matters worse for al-Hattab was that during the ceasefire deal and handing over the Israeli captives, Hamas and Palestinian faction militants came out in their uniforms, “but they didn’t even provide water to our people,” as he opined. 

Trapped between hammer and anvil

Officially, Hamas keeps its silence on the protests. TNA tried several times to get comments from its officials and spokesperson, but none were accepted. 

However, in a press statement, Hamas said on behalf of the “National and Islamic Action Factions “: “We affirm our support for the popular movements and the demands to stop the war and open the crossings.”

In a separate statement, Hamas’s security apparatus issued a sterner warning on its Telegram channels, saying, “Legitimate demands do not justify acquiescence to the [Israeli] occupation and its malicious goals. No Palestinian is someone who betrays the blood of the martyrs and stands with the enemy.”

It claimed there were incitement campaigns and protests against the resistance, which are being directly orchestrated by Israeli leaders targeting Gaza’s residents. This campaign, allegedly, reached its peak when Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, called on Palestinian residents in Gaza to protest against Hamas, demand its expulsion from the Strip, and hand over Israeli captives.

The statement further emphasised that the Israeli occupation’s appeal to civilians to oppose Palestinian resistance—particularly after the resistance refused to abandon its demand to end the war, and following a year of military failure to eradicate it—demonstrates the occupation’s real crisis in achieving victory on the battlefield.

“The resistance,” it noted, “relies on the awareness of Palestinian society and its understanding of the dangers posed by psychological warfare, incitement campaigns, and attempts to distort the true nature of the conflict with the occupation.”

“Israel is closely monitoring the protests,” Riham Oda, a Gaza-based Palestinian writer and political analyst, told TNA. “Israel realises that the silence of Gazans reinforces its narrative that all Gazans are loyal to Hamas, which gives it international cover to continue its military operations.”

“But the outbreak of popular demonstrations against Hamas puts this narrative in a difficult position,” she added, yet nevertheless Israel will try to exploit any internal Palestinian discord to weaken Hamas and justify continued aggression.

“The political landscape in Gaza is extremely complex. Any criticism of Hamas is met with either accusations of treason or manipulation by Israel. The Gazan is trapped between the hammer of the occupation and the anvil of internal tensions,” she explained. 

Political implications and Egypt’s role

Walid Al-Awad, a member of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian People’s Party, told TNA that “the protests reflect years of accumulated frustration and suffering.”

“The people who took to the streets are expressing their pain and suffering, which has exceeded tolerance limits. This is not the first time people have demanded Hamas’s departure. These demands have been repeated for 18 years, but they have fallen on deaf ears,” he said. 

Al-Awad argued that these protests were not a call for surrender but a cry for life. “The people want a dignified life. They want to stop the daily bloodshed. They want to live in security and peace,” he said. 

He called for the swift implementation of the Egyptian reconstruction plan approved by the Arab Summit to prevent displacement of the Palestinians that Israel and the US are aiming for.

“Paving the way for implementing the Egyptian plan is a national necessity to end the devastation and begin the reconstruction process. People have lost hope in international promises but see this plan as a last chance to restore stability,” he stressed. 

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military onslaught in Gaza since 7 October 2023, with thousands more feared buried under rubble, while much of the surviving population is faced with imminent hunger and a lack of other necessities. 

Much of the narrow coastal enclave has been reduced to rubble, leaving hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in tents or bombed-out buildings.