A demonstration against Hamas brought together hundreds of Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip today, who demanded that the Islamist movement give up power in the Palestinian enclave and lay down its arms in the conflict with Israel.
"The people want Hamas out" and "Stop the war" were some of the slogans chanted by protesters who marched through the streets of Beit Lahia, which are lined with buildings damaged by Israeli fighting and bombing, according to videos of the protest on social media, verified by the EFE news agency.
In the rare protest, protesters also shouted "Hamas out" and "Hamas terrorists", witnesses told AFP.
Mohammed, a resident of the city who took part in the protest, told EFE by telephone that the unusual march was spontaneous and that participants expressed their frustration with the war with Israel.
"(The protesters) demanded the end of the Hamas government and expressed their desire to live in peace", said the Palestinian.
He also added that the city's residents criticized the lack of shelters from attacks by the Israeli army.
Mohammed said that many residents fear retaliation by Hamas, but still took to the streets due to fatigue caused by the conflict, and that no arrests have been made by the Islamist organization, which has ruled Gaza for almost two decades.
"(The protesters) do not want the current government, they want to live in safety and security," explained the Gaza resident, who specified that another recent march against Hamas in Jabalia Al-Badad did not take place due to fear of the Islamist organization.
"Majdi", another protester who declined to give his real name, told AFP that "people are tired" of the conflict, which has lasted 17 months and has devastated the small territory.
"If Hamas leaving power in Gaza is the solution, then why doesn't Hamas leave power to protect the people?" he asked.
At least one call for a demonstration circulated on the social network Telegram on Tuesday, according to AFP.
The same source added that other messages of unknown origin called for protests in several places in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
Israel has frequently challenged Palestinians in Gaza to rise up against the Islamist movement that seized power in the territory in 2007, ousting the rival Fatah movement and no longer holding elections.
The protest comes a week after the Israeli army broke a ceasefire in place since January 19, resuming shelling and military incursions into Gaza, killing nearly 800 people.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today that more than 120,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli shelling since the resumption of the war, and that evacuation orders are in place for at least another 100,000 people in the northern part of the enclave.
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which left more than 1,200 people dead in just a few hours, most of them civilians.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in October 2023 surpassed 50,000 over the weekend, following the latest Israeli bombings in the Palestinian enclave, according to figures provided by local authorities, controlled by Hamas.
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