In a rare event in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, hundreds of Gazan citizens marched in the northern town of Beit Lahiya carrying white flags, calling to end the Hamas rule, and even calling to hand over the Israeli hostages.
The protests took place in front of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. One protester who filmed the events questioned where Qatari Al Jazeera and its Gaza correspondent Anas al-Sharif are, implicitly referring to the channel’s no criticism of Hamas policy.
people are demanding the press to cover these events!” he said. “People are demanding freedom, they’re demanding a halt to the hostilities against Gaza, they’re demanding peace and an end to this war.” One of them said, “The press entered the hospital so as to not document this event.”
Slogans shouted in the protest included “Out out out! Hamas out!” and “Where is the press?” and “We want to live!” Signs held by protesters included slogans such as “We refuse to be the ones who die” and “Stop the war.”
Another video showed hundreds of marchers walking in the streets of Beit Lahiya, with the cameraman saying: “Large crowds are protesting now against the rule of Hamas. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The people here are calling to free the prisoners so we can remain alive,” possibly referring to the remaining Israeli hostages.
I hope Israel listens to them and return to ceasefire but they wont. “But did they condemn Hamas?” Yes these bare starved homeless civilians did already but the IOF wont stop killing because Israel never want to give Palestianians their human rights and lands. Israel wants to continue being the colonizing genocidal aparthied it is.
These poor Gazans upmost demand is to be another West Bank for Israel to occuoy, ethnic cleanse, and expand its settlements in. The West Bank did not take hostages and no there is no Hamas in charge. Yet they are getting killed and their lands stolen and treated like 3rd-class citizens in aparthied Israel everyday.
I see the usual classy comments on such news stories from the Israeli public, calling the Gazans “Gazanimals” etc, and each comment 90%+ upvoted on the site.
The history books will have a wealth of material to work with.
I have never understood why people are so unequivocal and quick to take sides in this conflict. Either people insist on “No criticism of Hamas” or “No criticism of Israel”. It has always seemed clear to me that both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people are victims of their and each other’s respective warmongering hardline governments. It is possible for both sides to be completely in the wrong, and arguing about which is “more wrong” and trying to tally up historical injustices to debate who has the biggest total is fruitless and counterproductive. Until both sides are willing to admit they’ve been wrong and done wrong to each other and accept that very justified criticism, the violence is never going to end. Criticism of both sides is not only deserved it is necessary and probably the only answer. Both sides need to be forced to take responsibility for what they’ve each done wrong instead of justifying and defending it and acting like they’re completely innocent before this is ever going to have a chance at resolution.
The only conclusion I can draw is that some people REALLY don’t want it to ever have a peaceful resolution, and I think that’s probably closest to the actual truth of the situation. Really sickening and sad, for everyone victimized by this conflict. And I’m not even going to start getting into all the various foreign governments “supporting” both these sides. These are the ones who don’t want it to ever have a peaceful resolution, I suspect.
I am hoping that maybe these protests are at least a sign that Gazans are willing to start vocally criticizing Hamas’ role in perpetuating this violence. Now for us to be getting somewhere we’d need to start to see the same from the Israeli people too. But I’m not holding my breath. These protest efforts may be too little too late. Israel is clearly the better equipped and supported regime here; globally we seem to be returning to the horrible principle of “might makes right”. As we know history is written by the victor, and genocide is an unfortunately practical and well-tested way of silencing your critics.
Israeli people and the Palestinian people are victims of their and each other’s respective warmongering hardline governments
Overwhelming majority of Israelis support the genocide.
It’s tens of thousands of Palestinians that are dying, not Israelis. It’s the Palestinians that had their airport blown up decades ago. It’s Palestinians that live in an apartheid regime. It’s Palestinians that did not have the right to leave their prison. It’s Palestinians that had to deal with MK84 2,000lb American made bombs blowing up on their homes. It’s the Palestinians that are going without food and water and electricity.
There is no equality here. This is not a both sides thing. One side is committing a genocide and the other side is being genocided. That’s it. That isn’t an excuse for Oct 7. That isn’t to mean that Hamas is blameless.
But if you took all the crimes of the Palestinians and put it on one side of the scale and all of the crimes of the Israelis and put it on the other, there is no comparison.
fuck hamas but for Israel hamas is just an excuse not the end goal.
Doesn’t help that the IDF knew the attack was coming. They let their civilians get killed and captured so they had an excuse.
Why are links to this trash website even allowed
Here’s hoping these protests become a daily occurrence and they’re finally able to give Hamas the boot.
This is a very small minority of Gazans. Most Gazans know that Hamas is the only party standing in the way of a full ground operation of the genocidal forces into Gaza. When Palestinians are no longer facing genocide they can start demanding a government that represents every Palestinian, until then they don’t have that luxury.
The destruction of Gaza would have resulted in new Hamas recruits several times the number of this little protest.
The protests were for peace and an end to the genocide. A few people screamed slogans against Hamas and now the entire thing is framed as “anti Hamas protests”.
No surprise the Israeli media gladly runs this dishonest story to blame Israel starving Palestinians on Hamas.
But it does destroy their own narrative that “if only the Palestinians protested against Hamas they would get food”.
If such demands are met and Hamas is removed from Gaza make no mistake, the Gazan people will be the next thing they remove from Gaza.
Good they are breaking.
That’s pretty gross
