‘No to terror, yes to peace’: New anti-Hamas protest breaks out in northern Gaza

Hundreds of residents of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, took to the streets on Wednesday to protest Hamas rule, the first such demonstrations since the end of last month.

Videos shared on social media showed the protests. Footage also showed Hamas supporters — carrying signs saying, “Beit Lahiya is with the resistance,” a term referring to the terror organizations in the Strip — being thrown out by protesters.

Since late March, sporadic protests against the terror group, which has been the de facto government of Gaza for almost two decades, have taken place in the Strip, despite reports of Hamas attempting to detain and harm demonstrators, and counter to claims by the terror group that the protests are merely anti-war. Many of the protests have occurred in Beit Lahiya.

In clips shared on social media, participants could be seen holding signs reading “Stop the aggression,” “We want to live in freedom,” and chanting, “No to terror, yes to peace,” and “Hamas out!”

Participants were also seen waving flags, including the flag of Egypt — presumably in support of Cairo’s mediation of hostage-ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas — and, in the hands of children, “We want to learn.”

Clan leaders were reportedly also seen at the protest. Statements by some clan leaders were published last month defending and even supporting the protests.

#عاجـــــــــــــل… شمال قطاع غزة ينتفض من جديد ..
.
الان من مدينة بيت لاهيا
.#اوقفوا_الحرب pic.twitter.com/KwJShFW4pm

— الناشط حمزة المصري (@hamza198708) April 16, 2025

Gaza has dozens of powerful families that function as well-organized clans and derive their power from controlling businesses, commanding the loyalty of hundreds or thousands of relatives. Each family has a leader, known as a mukhtar, or chieftain.

Members of the Abu Samra clan of Deir al-Balah were filmed last month killing an alleged Hamas member in the street.

New 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

Prior to last month, 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.

???? 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

War erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians. As they rampaged murderously through the region, the terrorists abducted 251 people, also mostly civilians, 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 in January but collapsed in March after its first stage, as Israel renewed airstrikes amid Hamas’s refusal to release additional hostages.