Update 13:15 March 26: Hamas Responds to Anti-Government Protests in Gaza
Following the largest public protests against its rule in over a decade, Hamas has condemned the demonstrators and accused them of being “agents of Israel.” The group dismissed the growing civilian unrest—marked by chants like “Hamas out” and “We want to live in peace”—as foreign-backed subversion. In an official statement, Hamas claimed the protests were orchestrated by the rival Fatah movement and supported by Israeli intelligence in an effort to destabilize the territory during wartime.
Rather than address the grievances of Gazans facing relentless bombardment, food shortages, and displacement, Hamas has doubled down on repression. Armed militants violently dispersed protesters in Beit Lahia, and reports indicate several were beaten or arrested. The group’s response underscores its long-standing strategy of framing dissent as betrayal—an effort to maintain its grip on power even as popular frustration mounts.
Original reporting:
Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza took to the streets this week in a rare and dangerous act of defiance, chanting “Hamas out” and calling for an end to the war and to Hamas rule. Protests erupted in Northern Gaza, an area devastated by years of Israeli airstrikes and ground operations.
The demonstrations mark the most significant internal dissent since the war began on October 7, and serve as a direct rebuke to the popular Western myth that Hamas rules with universal support in Gaza. From the early days of its governance, Hamas has faced both electoral and grassroots opposition, particularly from youth, rival political factions like Fatah, and independent civil society actors. But public protests have long been rare due to the dual threats of Israeli bombardment and Hamas’s authoritarian crackdown on dissent.
On March 25, demonstrators, most of them young, took to the streets chanting “Hamas are terrorists” and “For God’s sake, Hamas Out”, and demanding the group relinquish control. The protests were met with beatings and intimidation by Hamas security forces, according to local eyewitnesses.
Still, the symbolism is powerful. These protests occurred while much of Gaza remains under siege. Israel continues its military assault, including a new ground invasion in the north, and has destroyed entire neighborhoods and critical infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and bakeries. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
While international media often frame the war as a fight between two monolithic forces, Hamas and Israel, these protests serve as a painful reminder that the people of Gaza are not Hamas. And they never were.
Civilians in Gaza have been repeatedly punished as if they were combatants. Entire families have been wiped out in airstrikes. Refugee camps have been flattened. When Western leaders justify this level of destruction by citing Hamas’s control of the territory, they erase the very people now risking their lives to say: we do not support this.
This is not the first time dissent has surfaced. In 2019, the “We Want to Live” protests challenged Hamas’s economic mismanagement, and were met with violence. But this latest wave comes amid the worst humanitarian crisis Gaza has ever faced, with starvation, disease, and displacement rampant.
As the international community debates ceasefires and aid corridors, Gaza’s civilians are sending a clear message from beneath the rubble: they want an end to all violence—Israeli and Hamas alike. Whether anyone in power will listen is another matter entirely.
The Crustian Daily will continue to document the voices erased by war and occupation.
