Palestinians in rare protests against Hamas’ rule in Gaza : NPR

Children carry signs in Arabic that read, “We refuse to die,” during a rally calling for an end to the war, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.

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TEL AVIV, Israel — Something rare and daring is happening in Gaza.

Large crowds demonstrated against Hamas on Tuesday, the first major protest in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group since the war with Israel began more than a year ago. There are calls for more protests throughout Gaza Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses say hundreds swelled to thousands as an anti-war protest in the northern city of Beit Lahia turned into an anti-Hamas protest on Tuesday.

“Hamas are terrorists,” they chanted, in a video posted online by activists in Gaza. “Out, out out, Hamas, get out!” NPR spoke to several eyewitnesses who took part in the protests attesting to their veracity.

The protests come at an inflection point in the war for Hamas and for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, analysts say.

Palestinians attend a rally calling for an end to the war, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. Hundreds of Palestinians chanted anti-Hamas slogans, calling for an end to the war with Israel, witnesses said.

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Renewed Israeli airstrikes targeting its militants and political leaders have sent the group underground and weakened its ability to confront Israel. Civilians are paying a heavy price for Israel’s latest moves: its total ban on food and basic supplies during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, deadly strikes killing hundreds of people, including young children, and new evacuation orders careening civilians into further despair.

Israel returned to war last week demanding Hamas release more hostages captured in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners.

“Hamas is not capable of fighting Israel, nor imposing calm, nor conducting a prisoner exchange. It is not able to provide the essentials of life for people,” said Akram Atallah, a London-based Palestinian political analyst and columnist for a Palestinian newspaper, who is originally from Gaza. “Hamas no longer has any choice, so people started looking for possible sources of strength within themselves.”

The protest drew the attention of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who himself faces a new surge of street protesters outside his home in Jerusalem, against his decision to return to war in Gaza while Israeli hostages remain held there.

“We have seen something the likes of which we have never seen. We saw large, open protests in the Gaza Strip against Hamas rule,” Netanyahu said at Israeli parliament Wednesday. “More and more Gazans understand that Hamas brings them destruction and doom. That is important. All this shows that our policy works.”

Protesters called for Hamas to release Israeli hostages

At the first protest Tuesday, a man held a sign in English that said “Stop War.” Another held a stick with a white flag. Protesters called for media coverage, chanting, “Where is the media?”

Protesters who spoke to NPR requested to use their first names only to speak freely against Hamas.

“Hamas is not taking us into account. It has 2 million people in Gaza who need to live,” said Ibrahim. He called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages it is holding.

“People are fed up with displacement. There are no more safe places for people to go,” said Mohammed. “So people spontaneously went to the streets and demanded the fall of Hamas rule in Gaza, to surrender. People want to live in peace and security.

Before the current war, protests against Hamas were quashed

The Palestinian Islamist militant group has not tolerated open dissent in nearly 18 years of ruling Gaza.

A rare protest in 2019 against Hamas’ high taxes while Palestinians suffered an Israeli led economic blockade was quashed by Hamas forces with beatings and arrests.

During the current war, Palestinians have spoken more openly, accusing Hamas of not protecting them. Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 50,000 people, nearly half of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials.

Hamas did not break up Tuesday’s protest or make any arrests.

In a statement to NPR, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said people had a right to protest but he condemned what he said were efforts to “exploit these tragic humanitarian conditions” to push “suspicious political agendas or to absolve the criminal aggressor, which is the occupation and its army,” without naming Israel.

An Israeli columnist said Israel should take advantage of the moment.

“The protest in the Gaza Strip is erupting now because many Gazans have tasted the experience of a prolonged ceasefire, are tired of war, and never truly liked Hamas,” Nadav Eyal wrote in the Israeli news site Ynet.

“Instead of making accusations that ‘there are no innocents in Gaza’ or talking about a ‘complete victory,’ this is the time for Israel to seize the crack that has opened and widen it further and further — because war is not won only with cannons and bombings, but also through political moves,” Eyal wrote.

Daniel Estrin reported from Tel Aviv, Abu Bakr Bashir from London and Ahmed Abuhamda from Cairo.