A Hamas official responded this week to Palestinians in multiple areas of the Gaza Strip who are protesting the terrorist group’s control of the region.
The rare display of discontent against the paramilitary organization controlling the region began on Tuesday and has continued through the week in scattered gatherings. However, the source of these seemingly spontaneous demonstrations remains unclear.
Hamas official Basem Naim offered the group’s first response on Wednesday in an interview with the Qatari channel Al-Araby, saying, “Demonstrations are expected from people facing extermination, against war and destruction.”
Hamas said the protests, which have reportedly popped up in Beit Lahia, Nuseirat, Deir al Balah, and elsewhere, are calling for an immediate ceasefire without specifically blaming the terrorist group.
“People are calling to stop the aggression, but the enemy and other parties with political agendas are diverting the spontaneous protests to serve the occupation’s agenda and trying to portray it as if the demonstrators are against the resistance,” Naim said.
Detailed head counts for demonstrations are not available, but photos and videos of the crowds show sizable participation and rhetoric clearly aimed at Hamas.
According to accounts published by the Associated Press, protesters have initiated chants including “Out, out out! Hamas, get out!” and “The people want the fall of Hamas!”
Israel decided to break the ceasefire established in late January due to Hamas’s unwillingness to release all Israeli citizens still being held hostage since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.
The Israel Defense Forces’s renewed bombing campaign has resulted in approximately 600 deaths, according to local health officials.
The return of widespread violence after months of relative peace may be at the heart of some Gazan residents’ outspoken demands for Hamas to end its control of the region.
“The people here are calling to free the ‘prisoners’ so we can remain alive,” one protester says in a video posted to social media. “Hamas is demanding our people to remain steadfast. But how can we remain steadfast when we’re dying? We’re sending a message to the entire world: We reject the rule of Hamas.”
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“The people are demanding the press to cover these events!” he continues. “People are demanding freedom, they’re demanding a halt to the hostilities against Gaza, they’re demanding peace and an end to this war.”
Negotiations are still underway between the Israeli government and Hamas to reestablish a ceasefire. However, they reached an impasse on the future of the terrorist group’s military capacity.
Israel has demanded regime change and the complete demilitarization of Hamas. The terrorist group agreed to pass leadership over to the Palestinian Authority but refused any agreement that would force it to lay down its arms until Israel cedes territory illicitly settled by its citizens.
