“You would think that Gazan voices calling for an end to war would resonate with those pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the West – but sadly it seems it doesn’t quite fit into their hate-fuelled anti-Israel narrative.”
Rare protests against Hamas broke out over three consecutive days in multiple locations in Gaza, with video clips circulating online in which residents chanted “Hamas out,” “Hamas terrorists”, “The people want to overthrow Hamas,” and “Yes to peace, no to the ongoing war.”
The protests were dispersed by security forces with reports of forceful interventions.
But are these protests genuine? Some on social media have doubted whether revolt inside Gaza against Hamas could be too good to be true and that there could be a staged altera motive. Afterall, we routinely see Palestinian civilians celebrating with Hamas – but if we ignore these protests, we could be ignoring marginalised but significant voices inside Gaza that need to be heard.
Probably one of the biggest indicators that something is shifting in Gaza is that Hamas leaders have been scrambling to try and suppress news of the protests. They have been telling the western media that they allow protests, but have been warning protesters that they are aiding Israel’s cause.
While it’s not immediately clear what triggered these protests, there can be no doubt Hamas’s rule of the Gaza Strip has been disastrous for the average Gazan, as billions of dollars of international aid have been siphoned into the pockets of the group’s leaders, many of whom live in luxury in Qatar. Even now, the terror group, in its refusal to release the hostages, brings more suffering to the average Gazan as its hatred of Israel and love of power overrides any consideration for over whom Hamas ruled.
The voices emerging from the protests point to a growing willingness among Gazans to express discontent with Hamas despite the potential risks. Hamas has a well-documented history of violently suppressing dissent, so the fact that people are still taking to the streets suggests a sense that there is little left to lose.
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian-American blogger from Gaza and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, posted on X that “the massive anti-Hamas, anti-war protests in Gaza are not PLO, PA, or Fatah organized. They are organic, popular-led, and entirely authentic expressions of frustrations, anger, rage, fury, and exhaustion by a people being held hostage by Hamas’s ruthless terrorism & criminality.”
Some protest participants spoke directly to the media on Wednesday, criticising Hamas over the war.
“They made the residents into rabbits, and now they have broken free of the fear because they have nothing to lose,” a Gazan man named Sami Ubayed told Israel’s Ynet news outlet.
“Residents have no water or electricity. Hamas is destroying Gaza and making us into stones, they must be removed from power. We won’t stop demonstrating, Hamas needs to be flexible and release the hostages.”
Demonstrators carrying banners reading, “Hamas does not represent us,” were seen marching in Gaza City and the town of Beit Lahiya in the north of the territory.
Let’s not be mistaken. The protests do not necessarily indicate a change in attitudes towards Israel. But they do show an emerging theme. One protester, identified as Ammar Hassan, was quoted on PBS as saying, “We are sick of the bombing, killing, and displacement. [Hamas] is the only party we can affect. Protest won’t stop the occupation, but it can affect Hamas.”
Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian author and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, posted on X on Tuesday that similar protests have happened many times before, but have always been “underreported in the media and quickly suppressed by the brutally powerful Hamas and its regional backers.”
This time, she said, the situation is different for three reasons: “Hamas is lonely and devastated; the biased Qatar-sponsored media has already lost its credibility and ability to manipulate the truth; the people of Gaza have broken the barriers of fear after they have been left with nothing to lose.”
Not only have we seen the largest protests against Hamas in Gaza, but details are also emerging about large swathes of Gazans leaving the territory of their own accord.
A Gallup International poll conducted between March 2 and 13 among 532 Gazans over the age of 18 living in permanent homes, shelter centres, and tent gatherings found that 52% of respondents would leave Gaza if given the chance – 38% temporarily and 14% permanently.
Despite the misinformation that portrays Palestinians as trapped in Gaza, Israel’s Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen said during an Army Radio interview that government figures estimate that 70,000-80,000 have left Gaza since the start of the war – not forced out, but leaving voluntarily. According to a Channel 12 report on Sunday, more than 1,000 Gazans have left the region so far this month, and another 600 were to do so by the end of the week.
Gazans in need of medical care abroad have been, up until now, allowed to leave with one family member, but now – according to the report – they can exit with their entire families.
In addition, Gazans with dual citizenship or visas in third countries are those leaving.
On Thursday, some 200 Gazans reportedly left the coastal enclave for medical care elsewhere; on Wednesday, there were reports of a pilot program that, in the coming days, would bring 100 Gazans to Indonesia to work in construction.
According to the report, those emigrating are brought to a meeting point from where they are taken to Kerem Shalom, where they undergo a Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) security check.
After that they are taken either to the Rafah crossing into Egypt, the Allenby Bridge to Jordan, or the Ramon Airport for flights abroad.
This information challenges two long-standing assumptions about Gaza: firstly that the people will never turn on Hamas, and secondly that they will never leave. Yet something seems to be stirring.
Speaking of the protest, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “In recent days, we have seen something we’ve never seen before – open protests in the Gaza Strip against Hamas rule,” he said, adding, “this shows that our policy is working.”
That policy is the removal of Hamas. Right now, Israel is conducting its military strategy to remove Hamas from Gaza and return all remaining hostages. Gazans turning their backs on Hamas has seemed unlikely until now, but if Hamas’s authority and support base is weakened, the end of war in Gaza becomes a closer reality. Yet, international voices seem to be silent.
There has been no word from pro-Palestinian advocates in the UK. You would think that Gazan voices calling for an end to war would resonate with those pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the West – but sadly it seems it doesn’t quite fit into their hate-fuelled anti-Israel narrative.”
The silence of pro-Palestinian protesters abroad struck Alkhatib. He wrote that he came across a “seemingly spontaneously organized ‘pro-Palestine’ protest” in Washington on Thursday.
“I thought, wow, maybe they are out here to support the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have been demonstrating against Hamas and demanding the end of the terror group’s rule. Instead, these demonstrators were repeating the same old tired slogans and made no mention or reference to Gazans who are putting their lives on the line. The tone-deafness of the protesters was astonishing, almost as if they were deliberately trying to obfuscate what was happening in Gaza.”
Alkhatib wrote that in addition to challenging Hamas, these Gaza protesters were exposing the fraud of the mainstream “pro-Palestine solidarity” movement in the West, “one that only cares about Palestinian lives when they fit a narrow anti-Israel agenda and apply selective outrage but never toward an Islamist fascist terrorist organization that destroyed the Palestinian national project and harmed the Palestinian people. Shame on all who are still silent!”
