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For the second consecutive day, rare and growing protests erupted across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as thousands of Palestinians voiced frustration with Hamas, calling for an end to the war with Israel and demanding the terror group relinquish power.
The demonstrations, which began Tuesday in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, expanded Wednesday to new areas including Gaza City’s Shejaiya and Sabra neighborhoods, the Nuseirat refugee camp and the central city of Deir al-Balah. Protesters chanted slogans denouncing Hamas and carried signs reading, “Stop the war,” “We want to live,” and “Our children's blood is not cheap.”
In Shejaiya, a Hamas stronghold with a battalion largely composed of local residents, demonstrators shouted, “For God's sake – Hamas out.” It was the first time residents of the neighborhood had staged such a protest since the conflict began in October.
In Beit Lahiya, where protests continued for a second day, crowds repeated chants heard the night before: “Hamas out, out, Hamas is a terrorist.” The slogan echoes those used during mass demonstrations in Egypt against the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Hamas is affiliated.
“We’re the ones paying the price, not them,” a protester in Beit Lahiya said. “This war must end. Hamas must go.”
In central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, residents joined the protest movement for the first time, marching with signs and demanding a halt to the violence. Protesters in Nuseirat called on Hamas leaders to leave Gaza. “Not Haniyeh, not al-Zahar — we will decide,” one participant said, referring to senior Hamas officials.
Earlier Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz released a video in Hebrew and Arabic urging Gazans to join the protests and call for Hamas’s removal and the release of Israeli hostages. He warned that the Israeli military would soon expand operations in Gaza and advised civilians to evacuate for their safety. “Hamas is endangering your lives and will cause you to lose your homes and more territory,” Katz said.
Despite warnings from Hamas’s internal security forces urging residents not to protest, public anger continued to mount. The group accused Israel of attempting to manipulate public opinion by encouraging Gazans to rise up.
“The enemy’s defense minister, Israel Katz, today called on our resilient people in Gaza to rise up against the resistance,” Hamas said in a statement. “We remind Katz that every Palestinian family has a son, father, brother or uncle [involved in the resistance]. So how can you ask us to rebel against our own people?”
Protesters dismissed that claim, insisting their grievances stem from local suffering and not outside influence.
Mundar Hayek, a spokesperson for the rival Fatah movement in Gaza, urged Hamas to heed the people’s demands and step down, warning that its continued rule jeopardizes the Palestinian cause. He called on the group to allow the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to assume control of the Strip.
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“Gaza residents are again demanding that Hamas step aside so their children won’t be sacrificed for narrow partisan interests,” Hayek said. He noted that local clans had previously asked Hamas to give up power, but the group had not responded.
Demonstrators announced plans for further protests Thursday afternoon, signaling momentum behind a movement that poses one of the most serious challenges to Hamas’s authority in years.