Protesters threatened
Anti-Hamas protests in Gaza grow: 'People are desperate'
By Chris Koenis ·22 hours ago· Amended: 22 hours ago

More and more Palestinians in Gaza dare to demonstrate publicly against Hamas. They want an end to the war, hunger and the expulsion of masses. Hamas responds by abusing and threatening demonstrators, witnesses tell Amnesty.

It is a striking and slowly growing movement that began two months ago in Beit Lahia, a city in the northern Gaza Strip, shortly after Israel unilaterally ended the ceasefire with Hamas.

Since then, there have been modest demonstrations in other places, such as Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Younis. However, the largest demonstrations are still in Beit Lahia, which attracted several thousand Palestinians late last month. Children held up banners with messages such as "we want to live" and "stop the war," and demonstrators chanted, among other things, "down with Hamas."

Remarkable protest against Hamas in Gaza: 'They are dead tired after months of war violence'
Northern Gaza is the worst affected by forced population displacements and the continued destruction of homes, buildings and infrastructure by the Israeli army.

'Enough of the misery'
"The demonstrations show that a lot of people in the Gaza Strip are completely desperate and exhausted," says Middle East correspondent Pepijn Nagtzaam. "They are completely fed up with the miserable situation they have been in for so long. There is no food, no medical care and there are constant bombardments. They have simply had enough."