March 25 (UPI) — Thousands of Palestinians protested Hamas “terrorists” on Tuesday in Gaza, as they demanded “an end to the war” and the release of Israeli hostages. The rare anti-Hamas protest was the largest since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in 2023.
“Out, out, out! Hamas out!” protesters shouted in the streets of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza as they carried signs that said, “We refuse to be the ones who die” and “Stop the war.”
According to one speaker, “Hamas is demanding our people to remain steadfast. But how can we remain steadfast when we’re dying and bleeding? Hamas must stop what is happening in Gaza … We’re sending a message to the entire world, we reject the rule of Hamas.”
“We want to continue until the bloodshed stops,” added construction worker Ahmed al-Masri, “and Hamas leaves the Palestinian scene.”
Gaza is home to 2.1 million Palestinians, who fell under Hamas control in 2007. Hamas has been known to be harsh on dissenters, using detainment and torture to quiet critics, according to a 2018 Human Rights Watch report.
Israel has been embroiled in war with Hamas inside Gaza since the terror group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. About 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
Gaza’s death toll has grown to more than 50,000 with more than 113,000 injured, since the start of the war, according to new numbers by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which added “thousands” of Palestinian civilians reported missing to the total of those presumed dead.
A cease-fire, negotiated in January, crumbled last week after Israel resumed “extensive strikes” on Hamas targets in Gaza. Israel accused Hamas of “repeatedly” rejecting mediation offers and refusing to release hostages. Hamas blamed Israel for overturning the U.S.-backed peace deal and “putting the captives in Gaza at risk of an unknown fate.”
On Monday, new airstrikes by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza killed at least 61 Palestinians, including two journalists, in the 24 hours before protests against Hamas got underway.
“Our message now is that we are a people of peace,” one Palestinian protester said Tuesday. “We demand a secure peace for this town, and not to live under the steel and fire here. We will be the ones who decide who is in control in this town.”
“We live under harsh conditions, so everyone must stand up to any foreign actors who want to destroy the destiny of this nation,” the speaker continued. “We say yes to peace, no to the tyrant rule which threatens the destiny of our people.”
