In a rare and perilous public spectacle of anger against Hamas, hundreds of Palestinians crossed Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza this week, demanding that the militant group renounce the control of the territory and end the war with Israel, according to four witnesses.
Wednesday walks on Wednesday seems to be the last of a handful of these demonstrations that have broken out in the past two weeks, despite Hamas’ efforts to suppress dissent with threats and strength shows. Witnesses said it was Beit Lahia’s first demonstrations that women joined, some bringing their children.
Together, the demonstrations, although small and dispersed, represent the most serious challenge to the 18 -year -old Hamas fist rule of the Gaza Strip since the start of the war when Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023. The overwhelming Israeli response that followed has torn the territory and the lives of residents, killing tens of thousands of people. The bloodshed resumed after Israel put an end to a cease-fire agreement of two months in mid-March, citing the refusal of Hamas to accept Israeli requests.
The Palestinians began walking about a week later in Beit Lahia, an agricultural community in the northern part of Gaza, then in other parts of the enclave. The demonstrations lasted three days before appearing to fade.
Activists have published on social networks this week calling for new rallies. The demonstrators gathered in the main square of Beit Lahia and walked towards another place, demonstrators said in interviews. They gave variable estimates of the size of the rally, from around 1,000 to 1,500.
“We have lost our houses, our loved ones, our hope and our future. Fairly enough,” said Abeer al-Radeea, 34, a housewife who said that she went to the demonstration on Wednesday with her husband and children. “We call on Hamas to stop this and leave us. We do not know when it ends, but we want peace and democracy. ”
The march has advanced despite a generalized fear in Gaza of Hamas, which has among the past violently on the challenges of its reign. After the recent demonstrations, however, Hamas’ response appeared more silent, reflecting what analysts have declared that the fear of the group ignites a population already angry and its ability to mobilize forces, with thousands of its members killed and with Israeli drones and war aircraft above the head.
But the threat of remuneration by Hamas remains.
On Friday, one of the demonstrators, Oday Al-Rrabi, 22, was removed overnight by Hamas agents from a refuge for people displaced in Gaza City, according to his brother, Hassan.
Hassan, 32, said he had received a call a few hours later to recover his brother at the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City. He said that Oday was bruised, bloody and barely capable of walking or speaking.
“The body of all my brother was blood,” he said, adding that Hamas agents dragged him on a leash. “It was as if I didn’t know him.”
The agents said that anyone who “cursed” the Hamas military wing would meet the same fate, said Hassan. He took his brother to another neighboring hospital, but Oday died a few hours later.
Hassan said he believed that his brother had been targeted both because of his participation in the demonstrations and because of his story to criticize Hamas. About a month ago, Oday was attacked by a group of Hamas members, but they fled when he pulled a knife, said Hassan.
Hamas officials and a government spokesman managed by Hamas in Gaza did not respond to requests for comments.
Wednesday, demonstrators understood Raed Al-Masri, 44, who said that masked Hamas members had been parked in corners, holding kits and sticks.
Two days after a previous demonstration, the internal security force managed by Hamas in Gaza summoned Sharif al-Buheisi, 56, in a tent in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the center of Gaza. Mr. Al-Buheisi is a Fatah activist, the rival political faction of Hamas, and was a director at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City before the war.
Two officers pronounced a threat, suggesting that he would regret participating in future demonstrations, al-Buheisi said during a telephone interview.
“This is not the moment of demonstrations – they stabbed resistance in the back,” recalls Mr. Al -Buheisi. “If you withdraw again, the result will not be good.”
After consulting his family, Mr. Al-Buheisi said that he had decided to stay away from other demonstrations. It was a bitter reminder, he said, how the civilians of Gaza were trapped.
“We are persecuted by both sides,” he said. “Israel we bomb without mercy and Hamas does not care if we die.”
Al-Masri said several of his cousins also received Hamas threats after recent marches. One of them received a telephone call from a private number summoning him to meet on Tuesday with Hamas security officials, who asked him about his involvement, asked questions about the supporters and protest organizers, and forced him to sign a document saying that he would stop protesting, said Al-Masri.
Others have ignored these calls.
During the demonstration on Wednesday, many demonstrators were led by hunger, the participants said. Israel has prevented the aid from entering Gaza for a month, forcing bakeries to close, the markets to empty and help groups reduce food distribution. Gaza residents say what the products remain exorbitant.
A child with Wednesday demonstration shouted that he wanted something to eat, said Ms. Al-Radea. Another demonstrator held a piece of onion, shouting that he had only eaten onions and radishes for over a week, said Basem Hamouda, 47, a farmer who was there.
For their despair, the demonstrators blamed Israel – but also Hamas.
“Those who cannot provide their people with a miche of bread do not have the right to trigger a war in the name of the liberation,” said Hamouda.
He and others said that Hamas should do a better job to maintain food prices by preventing the merchants from ThésAuse the supplies, a joint complaint in Gaza.
“Hamas has given Israel a pretext to continue this war while not regulating and controlling market prices,” he added. “This is the real cause behind these manifestations.”
Ameera Harouda Doha’s contributed reports, Qatar.
