{"id":16188,"date":"2025-03-26T13:54:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T20:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=16188"},"modified":"2025-03-26T13:56:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T20:56:16","slug":"palestinians-protest-hamas-in-a-rare-public-show-of-dissent-in-gaza-associated-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=16188","title":{"rendered":"“Palestinians protest Hamas in a rare public show of dissent in Gaza”, Associated Press"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY\u00a0SAMY MAGDY<\/a>,\u00a0FATMA KHALED\u00a0AND\u00a0SARAH EL DEEB<\/a>, March 26, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAIRO (AP) \u2014 Thousands of Palestinians marched between the wreckage of a heavily destroyed town in northern Gaza<\/a> on Wednesday in the second day of anti-war protests, with many chanting against Hamas<\/a> in a rare display of public anger against the militant group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protests, which centered mainly on Gaza\u2019s north, appeared to be aimed generally against the war, with protesters calling for an end to 17 months of deadly fighting with Israel that has made life in Gaza insufferable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But protesters also leveled unusually direct and public criticism of Hamas, which has quashed dissent violently<\/a> in the past in Gaza, a territory it still rules<\/a> months into the war with Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the town of Beit Lahiya, where a similar protest took place Tuesday, about 3,000 people demonstrated, with many chanting \u201cthe people want the fall of Hamas.\u201d In the hard-hit Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, dozens of men chanted \u201cOut, out out! Hamas get out!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed,\u201d said Abed Radwan, who said he joined the protest in Beit Lahiya \u201cagainst the war, against Hamas, and the (Palestinian political) factions, against Israel and against the world\u2019s silence.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ammar Hassan, who took part in a protest Tuesday, said it started as an anti-war protest with a few dozen people but swelled to more than 2,000, with people chanting against Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the only party we can affect,\u201d he said by phone. \u201cProtests won\u2019t stop the (Israeli) occupation, but it can affect Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The militant group has violently cracked down on previous protests. This time no outright intervention was apparent, perhaps because Hamas is keeping a lower profile since Israel resumed its war against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim, in a post on Facebook, wrote that people had the right to protest but that their focus should be on the \u201ccriminal aggressor,\u201d Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We want to stop the killing\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Family elders from Beit Lahiya expressed support for the protests against Israel\u2019s renewed offensive and its tightened blockade<\/a> on all supplies into Gaza. Their statement said the community fully supports armed resistance against Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe protest was not about politics. It was about people\u2019s lives,\u201d said Mohammed Abu Saker, a father of three from the nearby town of Beit Hanoun, who joined a demonstration Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to stop the killing and displacement, no matter the price. We can\u2019t stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar protest occurred in the heavily destroyed area of Jabaliya on Tuesday, according to witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One protester in Jabaliya, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said they joined the demonstration because \u201ceveryone failed us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They said they chanted against Israel, Hamas, the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and Arab mediators. They said there were no Hamas security forces at the protest but scuffles broke out between supporters and opponents of the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, they said they regretted participating because of Israeli media coverage, which emphasized the opposition to Hamas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz urged Palestinians to join the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou too should demand the removal of Hamas from Gaza and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages. That is the only way to stop the war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 19-year-old Palestinian, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution said he planned to join demonstrations on Wednesday. His mother has cancer and his 10-year-old brother is hospitalized with cerebral palsy, and he said the family has been displaced multiple times since their home was destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are angry at the whole world,\u201d including the United States, Israel and Hamas, he said. \u201cWe want Hamas to resolve this situation, return the hostages and end this whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renewed fighting brings more death and displacement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The protests erupted a week after Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a surprise wave of strikes that killed hundreds of people<\/a>. Earlier this month, Israel halted deliveries of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid to Gaza\u2019s roughly 2 million Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns the 59 hostages it still holds \u2014 24 of them believed to be alive<\/a>. Israel is also demanding that the group give up power, disarm and send its leaders into exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war was triggered by Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel\u2019s retaliatory offensive has killed over 50,000 people, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. Israel\u2019s bombardment and ground operations have caused vast destruction and at their height displaced some 90% of Gaza\u2019s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamas won a landslide victory in the last Palestinian elections, held in 2006. It seized power in Gaza from the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, dominated by the secular Fatah movement, the following year after months of factional unrest and a week of heavy street battles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rights groups say both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas violently suppress dissent, quashing protests in the areas they control and jailing and torturing critics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

___<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

El Deeb reported from Beirut.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

___<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Follow AP\u2019s war coverage at\u00a0https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/israel-hamas-war<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAMY MAGDY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/a>twitter<\/a>facebook<\/a>mailto<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SARAH EL DEEB<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Deeb is part of the AP\u2019s Global Investigative team. She is based in the Middle East, a region she covered for two decades<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/a>twitter<\/a>mailto<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY\u00a0SAMY MAGDY,\u00a0FATMA KHALED\u00a0AND\u00a0SARAH EL DEEB, March 26, 2025 CAIRO (AP) \u2014 Thousands of Palestinians marched between the wreckage of a heavily destroyed town in northern Gaza on Wednesday in the second day of anti-war protests, with many chanting against Hamas in a rare display of public anger against the militant group. The protests, which centered mainly on Gaza\u2019s north, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16188"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16188"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16190,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16188\/revisions\/16190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}