Gazan man murdered by Hamas after joining protests against terror group, family says

Hamas operatives kidnapped, tortured and executed a 22-year-old Palestinian man who participated in last week’s wave of protests against the terror group, according to his family.

Oday Nasser Al Rabay’s body was left in front of his family’s home over the weekend. On Saturday, many dozens were filmed participating in his funeral procession, shouting, “Hamas out!”

Hamas has reportedly been threatening Palestinians who participate in the protests against the terror group, but this appears to be the first time that anyone has been killed in connection to them.

The protests were held for three straight days last week, but none were held over the weekend, amid assessments in Israel that Hamas was intimidating protesters.

A Gazan man who now lives in Turkey, who had published most of the footage of the demonstrations, recently said senior Hamas officials threatened him over his activities.

The terror group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, said on Thursday that the protests were against Israel rather than Hamas, despite reports, interviews and footage to the contrary.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, partially out of a desire to quash the demonstrations, some senior Hamas members have shown willingness to release a small number of hostages to secure a truce during the Ramadan-ending holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which begins Sunday evening.

Hamas wants to crack down on those participating in the protests but cannot do so due to Israel’s resumed operations in Gaza, as the IDF is targeting terror operatives that it spots out in the open, according to the report.

Israel resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, scuttling the ceasefire and hostage release deal reached in January. That deal’s 42-day first phase expired on March 2 amid Israel’s refusal to negotiate the second phase.

The first phase saw Hamas release 33 women, children, civilian men over 50, and those deemed “humanitarian cases,” in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including over 270 serving life terms in connection with the murders of dozens of Israelis.

The second phase would have seen the terror group release 24 hostages still believed to be alive. All are young men abducted on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

Hamas is also holding the remains of 35 hostages, including an IDF officer whose body was snatched after he was killed fighting in the 2014 Gaza war.

Nurit Yohanan and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.