Earlier this week, it was reported that thousands of people had shot themselves in the streets of the Gaza Strip for Protest against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has governed the enclave since 2007.
Videos have circulated on social and traditional media showing crowds of people singing anti-hamas slogans and calling for the end of the conflict with Israel. The Israeli military campaign, launched in October 2023 in retaliation for an attack on Hamas against Israel, has now killed more than 50,000 Palestinian lives according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The attack on Hamas in 2023 resulted in the death of around 1,200 people.
In some cases, protest reports were Accompanied by claims of violent repercussions of Hamas activists, who would have attacked demonstrators while dispersing demonstrations.
Other social media users have said that broader international media had ignored or played the anti-hamas aspect of the demonstrations.
DW Fact Check looks more closely.
Where did Gaza demonstrations take place exactly?
According to concordant media reports, especially from the Bbc,, Cnn,, Al-Jazeera,, Haaretz And others, several street demonstrations have taken place in Gaza in recent days.
The first demonstrations seem to have taken place Tuesday evening in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, with the Reuters press agency capable of confirming the location of at least one video using satellite imaging for Identify buildings, public service masts and streets. THE Associated Press reported on Tuesday, at least one demonstration in Jabaliya.
According to CNN, a message shared on social networks provided for nine events on Wednesday – although the network said it could not verify the original source of the message. British newspaper, the Tutor Reported “at least one call to join the event” circulating on the messaging application, Telegram.
Sascha BruchmannA researcher for defense and military analysis at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, told a German public broadcaster ZDF Wednesday he had Identified “seven to eight different events in the last 24 hours”, notably in Beit Lahiya, Gaza City and Khan Younis. CNN reported on Wednesday a demonstration in Deir al-Balah in the center of Gaza.
DW has not been able to check the precise locations as Reuters did in Beit Lahiya, but a reverse image search using screenshots from videos does not reveal any cases of these videos having been downloaded before this week, which means that circulating videos are most likely.
Gaza: How many people have participated in the demonstrations?
The various videos published online show hundreds of demonstrators, Maybe even more than 1,000 in some cases.
A CNN journalist on the ground said that “thousands” of people had walked Through Beit Lahiya, while AP put the figure at around 3,000. The expert in the Middle East, Bruchmann, said that it “would not be surprised if there were 10,000 in total” in the various demonstrations.
Was Gaza’s protests anti-hamas or anti-war?
Hams senior official Naim told the BBC and Reuters, said that “people went down to the streets calling for war and ending the (Israeli) assault”.
The demonstrators can indeed be heard by singing slogans such as “we want the end of the war” and “we want to live”. The images of AFP photographers on the ground also show that children holding signs reading “enough displacement” and “stop the war”.
However, demonstrators can also be heard shouting “Hamas” and “Hamas are terrorists”. In Gaza City, demonstrators were seen holding banners reading “Hamas does not represent us”, according to AP.
The Hamas government media office in Gaza told CNN that anti-hamas slogans were “spontaneous” and “do not reflect the general national position”.
“It was a spontaneous gathering against war because people are tired and they have no room to go,” a witness told the Reuters news agency. “Many slogans chanted against Hamas, not everyone except a lot, SAying ‘Out Hamas’. People are exhausted and no one should blame them, “
A demonstrator, Beit Lahiya resident Mohammed Diab, told the BBC: “Hamas must resign and listen to the voice of mourning.”
A second demonstrator of Beit Lahiya, Abed Radwan, told AP that the demonstration was “against war, against Hamas, against the Palestinian (political) factions, against Israel and the silence of the world”.
A third, Saeed Kilani, said Washington Post: “The songs of” Hamas Out “does not mean that we want to eliminate Hamas, or that we can do it, or that we are against Hamas,” said Kilani. “Hamas exists in each family, even among streets – some of which are members of Hamas.”
Jabaliya demonstrators told after that they had joined the demonstration because “everyone failed us” but regretted later Participate due to pro-Israeli media coverage, which developed demonstrations as being explicitly opposed to Hamas.
The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz jumped on the subject to urge the Palestinians to demand the abolition of Hamas and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages. “This is the only way to stop war,” he said.
In conclusion, it is difficult to declare with certainty that the demonstrations in Gaza this week were exclusively intended for Hamas, and it cannot be said that the general uprising against the group. Rather, they reflect a wide range of opinions held among the Palestinians in Gaza, including certain explicitly anti-Hamas voices, but above all, a feeling of despair and weariness of war after more than a year of an Israeli military campaign directed against the enclave and yet another breakdown in a cease-fire.
They also reveal the nuanced and dangerous situation in which the Palestinians of Gaza find themselves.
How did Hamas respond?
In a press release, Hamas The NAIM manager said that “demonstrations are to be expected from people, faced with extermination, against war and destruction” and insisted that “no one has the right to prohibit anyone to express their opinion”.
On the ground, it appears that the response of Hamas and their supporters has varied from protest to protest.
According to the BBC, “Masked Hamas activists, some armed with firearms and others bearing batons, intervened and forcefully dispersed the demonstrators (at Beit Lahiya), by attacking several.”
A man who participated in the demonstration of Beit Lahiya told AFP on Tuesday Press agency he had seen “members of the Hamas security forces in civilian clothes that have broken the demonstration”.
Euronews said they saw videos in which “Hamas supporters can be seen to break the crowd”.
A demonstrator in Jabaliya said AP that there had been no Hamas security forces during the demonstration, but that scratches had broken out between supporters and opponents of the group.
Another demonstrator of Jabaliya said Cnn That activists were concerned about the remuneration saying: “There is fear and concern to participate in these demonstrations.”
Emad Hassan contributed to this report.
Published by: Rachel BAIG
