Since the war with Israel began, Palestinians have gathered for the largest protests against HAMAS in Gaza. People are shouting for the war to end and demanding to leave HAMAS. The gathered crowd is accusing the organization of being a “terrorist group” and of “betting on the blood of the people.”
In a video released by CNN, people referred to HAMAS as “terrorists, a terrorist group.” Protesters are shouting, “For God's sake, HAMAS should leave.”
Masked HAMAS militants are trying to disperse the crowd with sticks and weapons.
Large protests that began on Bayt-Lahiya street on Tuesday are continuing on Wednesday. People are continuously shouting “HAMAS out.” It has been reported that on March 26, nine protests against HAMAS are planned across Gaza. The gathered crowd says, “Gaza is not silent; there are people who do not want its destruction, let them know.”
HAMAS has not commented on the situation, but its supporters have written that the protesters are traitors, according to the BBC.
The protests in northern Gaza are taking place a day after militants from the “Islamic Jihad” fired rockets at Israel, prompting Israel to decide to evacuate a large part of Bayt-Lahiya. This decision has led to public discontent.
After nearly two months of ceasefire, Israel resumed its military campaign in Gaza and accused HAMAS of rejecting the new proposal from the US to extend the truce. In turn, HAMAS accused Israel of abandoning the initial agreement reached in January.
Since the resumption of airstrikes on March 18, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, and thousands have left their homes.
“HAMAS needs to come down and listen to the voices of the grieving; the voice rising from the ruins is the most correct voice,” say the people.
Since the war began, open criticism of HAMAS has intensified both on the streets and online, but there are still loyal supporters, and it is difficult to assess how much support for the group has changed.
Even before the war, there was a sentiment against HAMAS, but most of these people lived in hiding for fear of repression.
“Excuse me, but what exactly is HAMAS betting on? They are betting on our blood. The whole world sees us as just numbers,” writes Gazan Muhammad al-Najjar on his Facebook page.
According to the Ministry of Health's estimates, the number of casualties in the war has exceeded 50,000, prompting people to protest. The war, which has been ongoing for 17 months, has drained the population and turned Gaza into ruins. It has been confirmed that nearly 70 percent of buildings are completely destroyed. Moreover, international aid organizations are also limited, and delivering humanitarian supplies to Gaza is a challenge. The local population is almost entirely surviving on these humanitarian supplies.
