Anti-Hamas chants heard at rare protest in Gaza

Cliff Notes

Unprecedented anti-Hamas protests in northern Gaza saw hundreds of Palestinians demanding an end to the war, chanting slogans like “We don’t want war” and “Out Hamas.”
The protests reflect widespread exhaustion and despair, with some participants expressing frustration over rising food prices and the humanitarian blockade.
Amidst the dissent, there are concerns of escalating intra-Palestinian tensions and the potential for external powers to exploit the situation for their agendas regarding Gaza’s future.

Anti-Hamas chants heard at rare protest in Gaza | World News

Anti-Hamas chants have been heard in a rare sign of dissent in northern Gaza during a protest in which hundreds of Palestinians called for an end to the war.

People were also shown chanting, “We don’t want war”, while holding banners saying, “We are dying” and ‘Stop the war”.

One witness, who did not want to be named, said: “It was a spontaneous rally against the war because people are tired and they have no place to go.

“Many chanted slogans against Hamas, not all people, but many, saying ‘out Hamas’.

“People are exhausted and no one should blame them.”

Hamas dissent is unusual in Gaza and therefore notable

The protests in Gaza are potentially significant, but too complicated to be portrayed as being simply anti-Hamas demonstrations.

Whilst some of the protestors have been seen openly calling for Hamas to go, others are calling for an end to the killing of women and children by Israel, and some are angry at inflated food prices because of the ongoing humanitarian blockade. It is a mixed picture.

Although they remain small, and only in a handful of districts for now, any dissent against Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2006, is unusual and therefore notable.

It suits Israel to claim this is a sign that military pressure against Hamas is working, and to a limited extent that might have some merit, but Hamas’s rivals, Fatah, also have reason to exaggerate anti-Hamas feeling amongst Palestinians.

Further complicating things, many Palestinians have historically opposed Hamas as a governing body, but at the same time supported them as a resistance to Israeli occupation.

There are some external indicators that suggest ongoing moves to replace Hamas in Gaza – an Israeli red line if the war is to end.

There have been reports, as yet unconfirmed, that Jordan and other Arab countries have been examining plans to relocate up to three thousand Hamas leaders and fighters, although there is no suggestion where they would go.

The White House, and Israel, have criticised a joint Arab plan for the future of Gaza because it doesn’t include any suggestion to replace Hamas, so there is an incentive for that to be addressed if the plan is to be adopted.

If the protests grow and spread, then there is a dangerous risk of intra-Palestinian violence in Gaza, and I would expect a number of players – Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Arab governments – to seize the energy of opposition as they pursue their own competing agendas for the future of Gaza.

Videos and photographs shared on social media were said to have been taken on 25 March.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said people had the right to protest at the suffering inflicted by the war.

But he denounced what he claimed were “suspicious political agendas” exploiting the situation.

He said: “Where are they from, what is happening in the West Bank?

“Why don’t they protest against the aggression there or allow people to take to the streets to denounce this aggression?”

The comments, reflecting tensions among Palestinian factions over the future of Gaza, came several hours after the rival Fatah movement called on Hamas to “respond to the call of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”.

Fatah leads the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the protest showed Israel‘s decision to renew its offensive was working in Gaza, where Hamas police – the group’s enforcers – have again disappeared after emerging during a ceasefire.

Additional sources

Anti-Hamas chants heard at rare protest in Gaza – V2 News

Anti-Hamas chants heard at protest in Gaza – Sky News

Gaza protesters demand ‘Hamas out’ as Israel presses military campaign – ABC News

Unprecedented anti-Hamas protests in northern Gaza saw hundreds of Palestinians demanding an end to the war, chanting slogans like “We don’t want war” and “Out Hamas.”