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from https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hundreds-palestinians-gaza-protest-against-hamas-after-conflict-resumes-2025-03-26/

Hundreds stage Gaza protest against Hamas after conflict resumes
By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta
March 26, 202512:05 PM PDTUpdated 2 hours ago




Summary
People protest in Gaza, chanting 'Hamas out,' 'Enough wars'
Protests in northern Gaza show rare opposition to Hamas
Netanyahu says demonstrations show Israel's policy working
CAIRO/RAMALLAH, March 26 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Palestinians have
protested in northern Gaza to demand an end to war, chanting "Hamas
out," social media posts showed, in a rare public show of opposition to
the militant group that sparked the latest war with its October 7, 2023
raid on Israel.
Northern Gaza has been one of the most devastated areas of Gaza. Most
buildings in the densely populated area have been reduced to rubble and
much of the population has moved several times to escape the conflict.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to say the protest showed
Israel's decision to renew its offensive was working in Gaza, where
Hamas police - the group's enforcers - have once again disappeared after emerging during a ceasefire.
"Out, out, out, Hamas get out," chanted those seen in one of the posts published on X, apparently from the Beit Lahiya region of Gaza, on
Tuesday. It showed people marching down a dusty street between
war-damaged buildings.
"It was a spontaneous rally against the war because people are tired and
they have no place to go," said one witness, who spoke on condition that
his name not be used for fear of retribution.
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"Many chanted slogans against Hamas, not all people but many, saying
'Out Hamas'. People are exhausted and no one should blame them," he said.
The posts began circulating widely late on Tuesday. Reuters was able to
confirm the location of the video by buildings, utility poles and road
layout that matches satellite imagery of the area. Reuters was not able
to independently verify the date of the video. However, several videos
and photographs shared on social media showed protests in the area on
March 25.
Social media activists circulated a video they said was of a protest by hundreds of people in Shejaia, a suburb of Gaza City, on Wednesday
calling for the dismissal of Hamas, indicating the anti-Hamas protests
may be spreading. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the video. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said people had the right to protest at
the suffering inflicted by the war but he denounced what he said were "suspicious political agendas" exploiting the situation.

"Where are they from, what is happening in the West Bank?" he said. "Why
don't they protest against the aggression there or allow people to take
to the streets to denounce this aggression?"
The comments, reflecting tensions among Palestinian factions over the
future of Gaza, came several hours after the rival Fatah movement called
on Hamas to "respond to the call of the Palestinian people in the Gaza
Strip". Fatah leads the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West
Bank.
POLITICAL TENSIONS

Item 1 of 12 Palestinians protest to demand an end to war, chanting
anti-Hamas slogans, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip March 26,
2025. REUTERS/Stringer
[1/12]Palestinians protest to demand an end to war, chanting anti-Hamas slogans, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip March 26, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab


More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli campaign
in Gaza, Palestinian officials say. It was launched after thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7,
2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages, according to
Israeli tallies.
Much of the narrow coastal enclave has been reduced to rubble, leaving
hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in tents or bombed-out buildings. Hundreds of thousands of residents who had fled to the south of Gaza
earlier in the war returned to their ruined homes in the north after a ceasefire took effect in January.
Now, Israel has issued new evacuation orders after relaunching its
offensive on March 18.
"All Gaza is in ruins and now the occupation ordered us to leave the
north again, where to go?" the witness at the protests said.
Since Israel resumed its strikes on Gaza, saying its goal was to
completely dismantle Hamas, nearly 700 people, mostly women and
children, have been killed, according to Palestinian health officials.
Hamas deployed thousands of police and security forces across Gaza after
the ceasefire took effect in January, but its armed presence has sharply retracted since Israel's major attacks resumed. Fewer police were
present in some areas, while members and leaders of the armed wing went
off the radar to avoid Israeli airstrikes.
Palestinian analyst Akram Attallah said Hamas, which kept a lid on
public opposition before the war, would have few options to clamp down
on demonstrations if they gained momentum.
"The people are exhausted and paid with their lives and property, and
the group is facing a devastating Israeli military offensive that makes
it weaker to crack down on the protesters even if it wanted to," he said.
Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 in elections that swept out the Fatah
group of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. It has ruled the enclave
since then, offering little space for opposition.
The two movements have been at odds for years and have failed to bridge differences over the postwar future of Gaza, which the PA says must come
under its authority.
Hamas, while expressing readiness to step back from an active part in government, says it must be involved in selecting whatever
administration comes next.
Editing by Edmund Blair and Bernadette Baum, William Maclean and Sharon Singleton

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