I published an article on April 4, "Gazans, 'The Bravest People on Earth,' Confront Hamas" about the activities that peaked in late March. The protests continue but the media tends to ignore them, so X provides much of the information. Here are some captions of recent videos:
Ariel Oseran: "Thousands of Gazans are out in the streets of Jabalia, Northern Gaza, in renewed anti-Hamas protests. Crowds are chanting, 'Hamas are scum, Hamas are terrorists!'"
In Jabalia, Gazans are flooding the streets chanting:
"No siege and no destruction — we want to live with dignity and stability."
"Spread the message: Hamas is garbage."
"Hamas is a terrorist organization."
"Osama Hamdan is a spy."
"Sami Abu Zuhri is a collaborator."
Awdeh TV: "Demonstrations have renewed in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip that demand an end to the war and the departure of Hamas." (April 7, 2025)
Apr. 8, 2025 update: Bassam Eid:
It's time to listen to the people of Gaza, not the terrorists who control their lives. The ongoing protests against Hamas by the Gazan people are just the beginning. The people of Gaza are well aware that it's not only the captive Israelis but the whole Gazan population who are being used as hostages by these thugs. It's time to listen to the authentic voice of Gaza and set its people free by dismantling Hamas for good.
Apr. 9, 2025 updates: (1)
Gazan anti-Hamas protester Abu Himam Jundiyah is now in hiding because the terror group threatened to hunt him down.
He wants the world to know that he is hanging tough.@JusoorNews
Watch: pic.twitter.com/dWU3SBTUGP
— Center for Peace Communications (@PeaceComCenter) April 9, 2025
(2) Middle East Forum Writing Fellow Amine Ayoub joins the skeptical club, writing in the Jerusalem Post today that "the reality of Hamas's control over Gaza cannot be overstated. Nothing happens there without their knowledge. Spontaneous protests in the middle of a war zone, under the watchful eye of a paranoid regime? That is not how Gaza works. Not unless Hamas allows it – or engineers it."
Why should Hamas play this game? Because the protests do "just enough to distract, just enough to muddy the narrative, just enough to blame Israel or the West for everything falling apart."
My reply: First, Hamas has lost that un-overstatable control over Gaza; it is fighting for its life. Second, solid accounts of Hamas' persecution of the protestors have come out, including their murder; how do those fit the staged theory? Third, Hamas accrues no benefit whatsoever from the protests - they only reinforce the view that it is a brutal, murderous organization and embarrass it on the world stage.
Yes, some operations are false flags - such as the Erdoğan government's colusion with the attempted coup in Türkiye in 2016 - but not Hamas here.
Apr. 16, 2025 updates: (1) Four Washington Post journalists combined forces to write a post-mortem on the anti-Hamas protests, which they write "have now largely petered out, with Gazans attributing the decline to Hamas pressure and the preoccupation of the enclave's besieged residents with searching for food and fleeing Israeli strikes and evacuation orders."
Gazans said that some Palestinians who participated in or posted on social media about the protests got threatening calls or summonses from Hamas's internal security. In local media, anonymous Hamas officials branded the protesters as collaborators with Israel. Several Palestinian journalists told The Washington Post that they felt pressured not to cover the demonstrations because that might distract from the war.
More anti-Hamas quotes: "Human loss doesn't mean anything to Hamas." "The people of Gaza are the last thing they care about."
(2) Maybe that Washington Post obituary was premature? Israel Hayom and others report that protests renewed today:
Anti-Hamas channels reported Wednesday on renewed protests against the terror organization in the Beit Lahia area of northern Gaza, with demonstrators supporting a ceasefire in the war. Social media footage captured masses of protesters in northern Gaza raising signs against the terror organization and chanting, "Hamas out" and "We want to live." The protesters also called out, "Listen, listen, all people. Beit Lahia is not Hamas. Listen, listen, all people, the people are the pillar. Listen, listen, all people. Beit Lahia is the pillar. Ya Zohari, Ya Hamdan, we want to live!"
And these videos, on X:
Protests took place today against Hamas in Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip. The demonstrators are calling for a revolution against Hamas and an end to the war.
Hamas refuses to release the hostages and to lay down its arms, and continues to cause suffering for both Israelis and... pic.twitter.com/BSYvagd5kT
— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) April 16, 2025Hamas doesn't just use hospitals to plan attacks on Israel; they also use them to torture Gazans who oppose them.
Amin Abed, a former political prisoner under Hamas, explains.@JusoorNews
Watch: pic.twitter.com/QIcHIVmMLJ
— Center for Peace Communications (@PeaceComCenter) April 16, 2025#عاجـــــــــــــل... شمال قطاع غزة ينتفض من جديد ..
— الناشط حمزة المصري (@hamza198708) April 16, 2025
.
الان من مدينة بيت لاهيا
.#اوقفوا_الحرب pic.twitter.com/KwJShFW4pmNew mass anti-Hamas, pro-peace demonstrations in northern Gaza! In the first clip, the protesters chant, "Yes to love, no to terrorism, yes to peace." In the second, they chant, "Out out out, Hamas get out." In the third, they say, "Deliver the message, Hamas is all garbage."... pic.twitter.com/3545DS7AhW
— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) April 16, 2025🟨 شاهد | حماس برا برا ... مسيرات في بيت لاهيا شمال قطاع غزة للمطالبة بإنهاء حكم حماس pic.twitter.com/w9iNe3Uitc
— شبكة يافا الإخبارية (@yaffa_ps) April 16, 2025
Apr. 19, 2025 update: The Center for Peace Communications posted a 5:20-long video on X with a caption:
"All Hamas is trash!"
Anti-Hamas protests are escalating in Gaza — and when the terror group tried desperately to hijack the demonstrations, protesters kicked them out.
May 5, 2025 update: Hamza Howidy, a Gaza-born peace and human rights advocate, reports on X: "Hamas terrorists just murdered Ziad Shalouf, the leader of the Abu Shalouf family, in the Mawassi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza." Khaled Abu Toameh adds that his crime consisted of "publicly speaking out against Hamas."
May 15, 2025 updates: (1) The Committee to Protect Journalists has published an analysis, "Gaza journalists speak out about Hamas intimidation, threats, assaults."
(2) On behalf of "notables, elders, and clans of Gaza," anti-Hamas protest leader Falah al-Masri issued a landmark statement: "Hamas must give up power for the benefit of the people -- and aid must come in, whether from American, Israeli, or Arab assistance."
May 17, 2025 update: The Wall Street Journal has a major article, "In Gaza, Long-Suffering Palestinians Are Directing Their Anger at Hamas." Excerpts:
pressure is building on Hamas from different fronts—not least of which is the growing anger among ordinary Palestinians who have had enough of the hunger, sleeplessness and the ever-present threat of airstrikes from Israeli forces.
Israel says it has started to expand its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, potentially displacing more Palestinians and occupying territory. The specter of starvation is growing from two months of Israel blocking humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave after a fragile cease-fire broke down. A U.S.-backed aid distribution is being planned, which Israel says would prevent Hamas profiting from seizures of food and fuel deliveries to civilians. An Israeli airstrike this week targeted Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas' top leader in Gaza, which if proven to be successful would be a big blow to the militant group.
But few expected Hamas to be wrestling with the most visible internal challenge to its authority since it seized control of the Gaza strip in 2007: the people it professes to represent.
Hamas has ruled harshly, often jailing and killing its critics or threatening them into silence. Yet a simmering, continuing resistance has added to the pressure on Hamas, especially in northern Gaza, where the town of Beit Lahiya is the epicenter of anti-Hamas protests that began in March.
 Crowds of people chant 'Hamas out' with few repercussions from the weakened organization. |
After the demonstrations erupted in the town, they quickly spread to other parts of the Gaza Strip. Chanting "Hamas out," large crowds, often at great risk, have demanded an end to the war and Hamas to cede control of the enclave. Since then, smaller but boisterous protests have taken place, where fear of Hamas has seemingly evaporated.
May 19, 2025 update: MEMRI issued a report titled "Chants Against Qatar And Hamas During Demonstration In Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip: Stop The War! Out With Hamas!"
May 21, 2025 updates: (1) The Center for Peace Communications reports on a Gazan mother who struggled for years to have children and has lost them, who demands that Hamas stop using Palestinians as cannon fodder.
(2) MEMRI published a report, "Gazans Furious With Hamas: It Has Nothing But Contempt for the Victims of the War and Is Prepared to Sacrifice Us All to Remain in Power."
May 26, 2025 update: Palestinian Media Watch has a report, "Don't blame Israel for deaths of Gazans; the Palestinian Authority blames Hamas."
May 28, 2025 update:The Center for Peace Communications published a video titled "The Americans gave us the food we needed -- unlike the rulers of Gaza, who gave us nothing."
June 2, 2025 update: The Center for Peace Communications has a video in which an eyewitness to tragedy in southern Gaza speaks out.
June 4, 2025 update: Khaled Abu Toameh reports:
Many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been speaking out against Hamas, especially after its leaders rejected Witkoff's latest proposal. In videos on social media, Palestinians are seen cursing Hamas and urging it to end the war.
"Our houses have been destroyed, we have lost everything, what are they [Hamas] waiting for?" said a man in Gaza. "We are civilians, we are hungry, and our children are getting killed. We have no place to go."
June 5, 2025 update: The Center for Peace Communications reports on the "Popular Forces," the first Gazan fighting force to challenge Hamas in a generation, going public.
June 6, 2025 update: The Center for Peace Communications quotes a Gazan, "Hamas would rather we starve than the American aid project succeed."
June 7, 2025 update: Yasir Abu Shabab, a Gazan militia leader, issued his first public statement: "We aim to protect Palestinians from Hamas's terrorism ... and expand into other areas controlled by Hamas."
June 8, 2025 update: A complete Israel Hayom story:
Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, published on Sunday [June 8] a disturbing video from the Gaza Strip showing the public execution of a local resident by Hamas terrorists in Gaza City's central square over the weekend. Alian released the footage via the Arabic-language Facebook page of his unit, known as "Al-Munassiq," delivering a harsh rebuke of Hamas and accusing the organization of resorting to fear to maintain its grip on power.
The highly unusual documentation shows a Gaza resident being shot to death and executed by Hamas operatives in a brutal public display that took place in Gaza City's main square in recent days. The footage was distributed by Alian's office through its Arabic social media channels.
In his message, Alian directly addressed Gaza residents. "People of Gaza – Hamas terrorists and criminals are killing you and care nothing for your lives. There is no difference between a dictator who kills quietly and a terrorist who slaughters openly – both are your enemies and enemies of life."
Alian stated, "This horrifying footage before you is yet another desperate and failed attempt to instill fear among the public in order to preserve Hamas' control, power, and governance. It reflects Hamas' cynical exploitation and trampling of Gaza's residents for the sake of sustaining the terrorist regime."
June 9, 2025 update: Khaled Abu Toameh documents the "wave of angry reactions" from Gazans to the statement by Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya stating that "Gaza has offered itself as a sacrifice for the Muslim ummah [nation] and deserves its full support in return."
June 12, 2025 updates: (1) Yasir Abu Shabab, who leads the first Gazan militia to fight Hamas in a generation, states that "We believe in peace and secular governance for Gaza, and categorically reject Hamas's lies."
(2) Headline in the Times of Israel: "Hamas police says it killed 12 members of Gaza's Israeli-backed Abu Shabab militia."
June 26, 2025 update: Palestinian Media Watch reports that the Palestinian Authority has turned on Hamas for its murder of Gazans. One quote;
There are many reports that have begun to arrive from the Gaza Strip about killings by Hamas of many of the residents walking the roads in search of a sack of flour, under the pretext that they are collaborating with the American aid centers for food distribution! Not only do the reports reveal this, but there are also letters and statements from families whose sons have been reached by the treacherous hand of Hamas.
June 30, 2025 update: The Center for Peace Communications reports on a Gazan dissident's mother who urges the total defeat of Hamas, observing, "If Hamas tortures Muslims, imagine what they do to their Israeli captives."
July 2, 2025 update: The powerful Barbakh clan in Gaza has exchanged fire with Hamas at a major hospital in Khan Younis. The conflict ended in burned vehicles and destroyed equipment.
July 6, 2025 update: An anonymous Hamas leader tells the BBC that the organization "has lost about 80% of its control over the Gaza Strip and that armed clans are filling the void. ... Hamas's command and control system had collapsed due to months of Israeli strikes that have devastated the group's political, military and security leadership." See the full article for details.
