Risking Reprisals, Protesters in Gaza Call on Hamas to Step Aside
Source: New York Times
In a rare and perilous public show of anger against Hamas, hundreds of Palestinians marched through Beit Lahia in northern Gaza this week, demanding that the militant group relinquish control of the territory and end the war with Israel, according to four witnesses.
The march on Wednesday appeared to be the latest of a handful of such protests that have broken out in the last two weeks, despite Hamas’s efforts to suppress dissent with threats and shows of force. Witnesses said it was the first of the protests in Beit Lahia that women joined, some bringing their children.
Taken together, the demonstrations, while small and scattered, represent the most serious challenge to Hamas’s iron-fisted 18-year rule of the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023. The overwhelming Israeli response that followed has ripped apart the territory and residents’ lives, killing tens of thousands. The bloodshed resumed after Israel ended a two-month-old cease-fire agreement in mid-March, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept Israeli demands. . . .
The march went forward despite widespread fear in Gaza of Hamas, which in the past has cracked down violently on challenges to its rule. After the recent protests, however, Hamas’s response has appeared more muted, reflecting what analysts said was both the group’s fear of further inflaming an already angry population and its diminished ability to mobilize forces, with thousands of its members killed and with Israeli drones and warplanes overhead.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/world/middleeast/gaza-protests-hamas.html
Yet Hamas abducted a protestor on Friday. The bloodied protestor was found in a hospital, where he was bruised and barely able to talk.
These protests challenge Israel's assertion that all Palestinians are Hamas supporters and therefore deserved to be bombed to oblivion.
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