Thousands of Palestinians marched on Wednesday between the wreck of a heavily destroyed city in northern Gaza on the second day of anti-war protests, with a lot of singing against Hamas in a rare representation of public anger against the militant group.
The protests, which were mainly focused on northern Gaza, seemed to have been directed against the war in general, with demonstrators called to put an end to 17 months of fatal fights with Israel that made life in Gaza unbearable.
But the public calls against Hamas, which has long been suppressing the different opinion and still rules the territory months in the war with Israel, were rare.
In the city of Beit Lahiya, where a similar protest took place on Tuesday, around 3,000 people demonstrated, with many who “wanted the people from Hamas.” In the hard-struck Shijaiyah district of Gaza City sang dozens of men 'out, out! Hamas gets out! '
“Our children were killed. Our houses have been destroyed, “said Abbed Radwan, who said he had joined the war with the protest in Beit Lahiya, to Hamas and the (Palestinian political) factions, against Israel and against the silence of the world.”
Ammar Hassan, who participated in a protest on Tuesday, said it started as an anti-war protest with a few dozen people, but swelled to more than 2,000, with people singing against Hamas.
“It's the only party that we can influence,” he said by telephone. “Protests will not stop the (Israeli) occupation, but it can influence Hamas.”
The militant group has violently recorded on earlier protests. This time no outright intervention was clear, perhaps because Hamas has retained a lower profile since Israel resumed its war against it.
Thousands of Palestinians marched on Wednesday between the wreck of a heavily destroyed city in northern Gaza on the second day of anti-war protests
In the city of Beit Lahiya, where a similar protest took place on Tuesday, around 3,000 people demonstrated, with many who “wanted the people from Hamas.”
Palestinians gather to protest against the current Israel-Hamas war and the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, March 26, 2025
Senior Hamas Official Bassem Naim wrote in a message on Facebook that people had the right to protest, but that their focus should be on the 'criminal aggressor', Israel.
The elderly people from Beit Lahiya expressed support for the protests against the renewed offensive of Israel and the tight blockade on all the necessities to Gaza.
Their statement said that the community fully supports the armed resistance to Israel.
“The protest was not about politics. It was about people's life, “said Mohammed Abu Saker, a father of three from the nearby city of Beit Hanoun, who came to a demonstration on Tuesday.
'We want to kill it and stop the displacement, regardless of the price. We cannot prevent Israel from killing us, but we can put Hamas on the pressure to give concessions, “he said.
A similar protest took place in the heavily destroyed area of ​​Jabaliya on Tuesday, according to witnesses.
One demonstrator in Jabaliya, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said they joined the demonstration because “everyone abandoned.”
They said they have sung against Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian authority and Arab mediators of Western.
They said there were no Hamas security for the protest, but broke broke between supporters and opponents of the group.
Later they said they regretted participation because of the Israeli media, which emphasized the opposition to Hamas.
One demonstrator in Jabaliya, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said they joined the demonstration because 'everyone failed'
Palestinians protest to put an end to war, which sing anti-hamas slogans, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip March 26, 2025
They said there were no Hamas security for the protest, but broke broke between supporters and opponents of the group
Earlier this month, Israel stopped deliveries of food, fuel, medicines and humanitarian aid to Gazas about 2 million Palestinians
Palestinians have signs and singing logans against Hamas during anti-war protests in a rare show of public anger against the militant group that rules the territory, in Deir al-Balah Gaza Strip, Wednesday 26 March 2025
The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz urged the Palestinians to participate in the protests.
'You too must demand the removal of Hamas from Gaza and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages. That's the only way to stop the war, “he said.
A 19-year-old Palestinian, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said he was planning to participate in demonstrations on Wednesday.
His mother has cancer and his 10-year-old brother is admitted to the hospital with cerebral palsy, and he said that the family has been displaced several times since their house was destroyed.
“People are angry with the whole world,” including the United States, Israel and Hamas, he said. “We want Hamas to solve this situation, return the hostages and end this whole thing.”
The protests broke from a week after Israel ceased it -the fires with Hamas ended by launching a surprise wave of strikes that hundreds of people killed.
Earlier this month, Israel stopped deliveries of food, fuel, medicines and humanitarian aid to the approximately 2 million Palestinians of Gaza.
Israel has sworn to escalate the war until Hamas returns the 59 hostages who still means it – 24 of them believed they are alive. Israël also demands that the group gives up power, disapprove and sends its leaders in exile.
Hamas has said that only the remaining prisoners will release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a permanent cease -the fire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The war was activated by Hamas' on October 7, 2023, attack in Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed around 1200 people, mainly civilians, and 251.
Children were seen who witnessed the protests, with some who participated
Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns the 59 hostages
The retaliation offensive of Israel has killed more than 50,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry
The bombing of Israel and the ground activities have caused enormous destruction and displaced approximately 90% of the population of Gaza on their length
Rights groups say that both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas violently suppress the different opinions, destroy protests in the areas they control and are trapped and torture critics
The retaliation offensive of Israel has killed more than 50,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many citizens or fighters were.
The bombing of Israel and the ground activities have caused enormous destruction and displaced about 90% of the Gaza population on their length.
Hamas won a landslide victory in the last Palestinian elections, held in 2006. It grabbed the power in Gaza of the Palestinian authority supported by the Western Palestinian authority, dominated by the secular Fatah movement, the following year after months of fact-term and a week of heavy street fighting.
Rights groups say that both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas violently suppress the different opinions, destroy protests in the areas they control and torture prisoners and critics.
