Demonstrations swell as thousands join second day of protests against Hamas in Gaza
Rallies spread to other areas from Beit Lahiya with rare calls from Palestinians for end to terror group’s rule and war; Katz urges other Gazans to follow their lead
Thousands of Palestinians marched in northern Gaza on Wednesday, the second day of anti-war protests, with many chanting against Hamas in a rare display of public anger against the ruling terror group.
As the Palestinians marched, Defense Minister Israel Katz urged others to join the protests while warning that a restarted military campaign against Hamas would only gain intensity if the terror group does not release Israeli hostages.
The protests appeared to be aimed generally against the war, with protesters calling for an end to 17 months of deadly fighting with Israel, started by Hamas, that has made life in Gaza insufferable.
But the public calls against Hamas, which has long repressed dissent and still rules the territory months into the war with Israel, were rare and had plainly grown since Tuesday.
Demonstrators carrying banners reading “Hamas does not represent us” were seen marching in Gaza City and the town of Beit Lahiya in the north of the territory.
In Beit Lahiya, where a similar but far smaller protest took place Tuesday, about 3,000 people demonstrated, with many chanting, “The people want the fall of Hamas.” In the hard-hit Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, dozens of men chanted, “Out, out out! Hamas get out!”
“Our children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed,” said Abed Radwan, who said he joined the protest in Beit Lahiya “against the war, against Hamas, and the [Palestinian political] factions, against Israel and against the world’s silence.”
Ammar Hassan, who took part in a rally Tuesday, said it started as an anti-war protest with a few dozen people but claimed it had swelled to more than 2,000, with people chanting against Hamas.
“It’s the only party we can affect,” he said by phone. “Protests won’t stop the [Israeli] occupation, but it can affect Hamas.”
The terror 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.
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 “criminal aggressor,” Israel.
War erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led some 5,000 attackers to invade southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians. As they rampaged murderously through the region, the terrorists abducted 251 people, also mostly civilians, who were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Israel retaliated with a military campaign to destroy Hamas and save the hostages. A complex, three-phase ceasefire that included the release of hostages in batches began on January 19 but collapsed after its first stage as Israel renewed air strikes amid mutual accusations of violations and as Hamas stopped releasing hostages.
‘We want to stop the killing’
Family elders from Beit Lahiya expressed support for protests against Israel’s renewed offensive and its tightened blockade on all supplies into Gaza. Their statement said the community fully supported armed resistance against Israel.
“The protest was not about politics. It was about people’s lives,” said Mohammed Abu Saker, a father of three from the nearby town of Beit Hanoun, who joined a demonstration Tuesday.
“We want to stop the killing and displacement, no matter the price. We can’t stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions,” he said.
A similar protest occurred in the heavily destroyed area of Jabalia on Tuesday, according to witnesses.
One protester in Jabalia, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said they joined the demonstration because “everyone failed us.”
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.
Later, they said they regretted participating because of Israeli media coverage, which emphasized the opposition to Hamas.
Meanwhile, Katz urged Gazans to step up the protests, saying that ousting Hamas was their only chance of ending the war.
“Gaza residents, the IDF will soon operate with intensity in additional areas in Gaza and you will be required to evacuate for your protection from the combat zones,” Katz said in a Wednesday video message that included an Arabic-language statement.
“The plans are ready and approved. Hamas is risking your life and will make you lose your homes and more and more land that will be added to the Israeli defense array,” Katz said, referring to an expanding buffer zone along the Gaza border that Israel has set up.
“Learn from the residents of Beit Lahiya, as they did, you should also demand the removal of Hamas from Gaza and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages. This is the only way to stop the war,” he added.
أهل غزة،
قريبا سيتحرك جيش الدفاع بقوة في مناطق أخرى في غزة وسيطلب منكم الإخلاء من مناطق القتال لحمايتكم.
إن الخطط جاهزة وقد تمت المصادقة عليها.
حماس تعرّض حياتكم للخطر وستجعلكم تخسرون بيوتكم والمزيد من الأراضي التي سيتم ضمها إلى منظومة الدفاع الإسرائيلية.
لقد دمر السنوار… pic.twitter.com/gCbBaJL1Bt
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) March 26, 2025
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. The Palestinian teen said the family has been displaced multiple times since their home was destroyed.
“People are angry at the whole world,” including the United States, Israel and Hamas, he said. “We want Hamas to resolve this situation, return the hostages, and end this whole thing.”
Protests are relatively rare events in Gaza, especially against Hamas, which has maintained an iron grip on the Strip since it violently ousted the Palestinian Authority from the territory nearly two decades ago.
While there have been more public statements by individuals in Gaza against Hamas rule since the war started, large-scale demonstrations against the group have been almost nonexistent.
The last documented protest in the Strip against Hamas took place in January 2024, when Palestinians in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis called for an end to the war, the end of the terror group’s rule over Gaza, and the release of the Israeli hostages.
Before the war, anti-Hamas protests were also relatively rare events and were often suppressed violently by the terror group.
Renewed fighting brings more death and displacement
The protests erupted a week after Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a surprise wave of strikes against Hamas leaders and terror infrastructure that reportedly killed hundreds of people.
Earlier this month, Israel halted deliveries of food, fuel, medicine, and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians to pressure Hamas into negotiations for continuing the truce and releasing hostages.
Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns the 59 hostages it still holds — 24 of them believed to be alive. Israel is also demanding that the group give up power, disarm, and send its leaders into exile.
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a complete end to war, and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Hamas won a landslide victory in Gaza in the last Palestinian elections, held in 2006. It seized power in Gaza from the PA, which is based in the West Bank and dominated by the secular Fatah movement, the following year after months of factional unrest and a week of heavy street battles.
Rights groups say both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas violently suppress dissent, quashing protests in the areas they control and jailing and torturing critics.
The Times of Israel Community.