(JTA) — Hundreds of Palestinians, mostly men, shouted and chanted criticism of Hamas marched in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to footage shared from the territory that the terror group has governed for nearly two decades.
Protests took place throughout the enclave, including in Khan Younis and neighborhoods of Gaza City.
The demonstrations were a rare and risky public display of dissent against Hamas, which took control of the territory in a 2006 election and violently ousted its rivals in a brief civil war the following year. It has run Gaza since then without elections and is known to imprison, torture and execute its critics.
Some of the demonstrators carried signs calling for an end to the war, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Some chanted anti-Hamas slogans, including calling it a terror group, according to footage from the scene and news reports. They chanted in Arabic, “Out, out, out, Hamas get out” and “The Gazan people do not want war” as they marched on dusty streets between war-damaged buildings, Haaretz reported.
One resident of northern Gaza who participated in the protest told Haaretz that the demonstration began spontaneously out of what he said was a “sense of despair, due to their inability to endure the continuation of the war.” He emphasized that the protests against Hamas do not indicate support for Israel.
“We demonstrated today to declare that we do not want to die. Eventually, it is Israel that attacks and bombs, but Hamas also bears direct responsibility, as do all who define themselves as Arab and Palestinian leaders,” he said.
Some residents of the Gaza Strip have publicly criticized Hamas a few times during the war, but those voices never gained traction. Hamas has mostly succeeded in suppressing opposition.
The Gaza protests are taking place at the same time as frequent mass anti-government protests in Israel. Those protests call for the war to end and the hostages held by Hamas to be freed. They are also protesting the Israeli government’s efforts to fire senior officials.
Jack Khoury of Haaretz contributed to this report.