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Home News Sport Business Innovation Culture Arts Travel Earth Audio Video Live Hundreds join Gaza's largest antiHamas protest since war began Rushdi Aboualouf Alex Boyd
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Hundreds of people took to the streets of Beit Lahia, with many chanting anti-Ha mas slogans Hundreds of people have taken part in the largest anti-Ha mas protest in Gaza since the war with Israel began, taking to the streets to demand the group step down from power.
Masked Hamas militants, some armed with guns and others carrying batons, intervened and forcibly dispersed the protesters, assaulting several of them.
Videos shared widely on social media by activists typically critical of Ha mas showed young men marching in the streets of Beit Lahia, northern Gaza on Tuesday, chanting "out, out, out, Hamas out".
Ha mas said it condemned those who it accused of pushing "suspicious political agendas" and shifting the blame from Israel.
Pro-Ha mas supporters downplayed the significance of the protests and accused the participants of being traitors.
The protests in northern Gaza came a day after Islamic Jihad gunmen launched rockets at Israel, prompting an Israeli decision to evacuate large parts of Beit Lahia, which sparked public anger in the area.
1 Israel has resumed its military campaign in Gaza following nearly two months of ceasefire, blaming Ha mas for rejecting a new US proposal to extend the truce. Hamas, in turn, has accused Israel of abandoning the original deal agreed in January.
Hundreds of Palestinians hav.e been killed and thousands displaced since Israeli military operations resumed with air strikes on 18 March.
One of the protesters, Beit Lahia resident Mohammed Diab, had his home destroyed in the war and lost his brother in an Israeli airstrike a year ago.
"We refuse to die for anyone, for any party's agenda or the interests of foreign states," he said. "Ha mas must step down and listen to the voice of the grieving, the voice that rises from beneath the rubble - it is the most truthful voice."
Footage from the town also showed protesters shouting "down with Hamas rule, down with the Muslim Brotherhood rule".
Hamas has been the sole ruler in Gaza since 2007, after winning Palestinian elections a year prior and then violently ousting rivals.
Open criticism of Ha mas has grown in Gaza since war began, both on the streets and online, though there are still those that are fiercely loyal and it is hard to accurately gauge how far support for the group has shifted.
Tuesday's protest was the largest anti-Hamas demonstration since war began following the 7 October attacks
There was opposition to Hamas long before the war, though much of it remained hidden for fear of reprisals.
Mohammed Al-Najjar, from Gaza, posted on his Facebook: "Excuse me, but what exactly is Hamas betting on? They're betting on our blood, blood that the whole world sees as just numbers. "Even Hamas counts us as numbers. Step down and let us tend to our wounds." 2 Hamas official Dr Basem Nairn told the BBC people have the right "to cry out in pain", but he accused protesters of having "suspicious agendas" and asked why demonstrations were not happening in the West Bank.
He said it was unacceptable to exploit the humanitarian conditions in Gaza to "shift the blame away" from Israel.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, during which around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
Israel responded to the attack with a military offensive in Gaza to destroy Ha mas, which has killed more than 0,000 Pal stinians the Hamas-run health ministry said.
Most of Gaza's 2.1 million population has also been displaced, many of them several times.
An estimated 70% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed in Gaza, healthcare, water and sanitation systems have collapsed and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter. 3 https ://www.thefp.com/ p/fa mi ly-of-m u rde red-gaza-proteste r-spea ks-out EXCLUSIVE: The Family of a Murdered Gaza Protester Speaks Out A Palestinian man waves a white flag during an anti-Ha mas protest, calling for an end to the war with Israel on March 26, 2025 in Gaza. (AFP via Getty Images) After they tortured him and mutilated his body, they dropped him off a rooftop with a note pinned to his clothes: 'This is the price for all who criticize Ha mas.' By Tan'{Il Luk'{,Jn tlll,)
04.01.25 - Israel ;,i11d Antisem1t1sru
On March 29, in a neighborhood called Tel al-Hawa in southern Gaza City, Hamas brutally murdered 22- year-old Uday Nasser Saadi al-Rabbay, his family said. After Uday had been tortured and mutilated, his body was thrown off a tall building.
His crime? He had spoken out-loudly and publicly-against the terrorists who rule Gaza with an iron grip.
For three straight days last week, thousands of courageous Palestinians took to the streets all across the Gaza Strip in the tar est anti-Ha mas demonstrc1 tions since October 7, 2023. Uday was part of those protests. But on Saturday, he took a step beyond. He stood up inside a coffee shop in Gaza City, and in a loud voice, denounced Hamas.
According to his family, a few hours later, around 30 armed men from the Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, stormed his home and dragged him away. His family says they tortured him for hours, until he was dead. When they were done-after they had broken his fingers, stabbed him repeatedly, and smashed his head with a rifle butt-they dropped his body off a rooftop. A note was pinned to his clothes: "This is the price for all who criticize Hamas." His mother, along with his siblings, found the body.
Until now, the family has been afraid to talk to reporters, worried that their words would be twisted-as many local journalists in Gaza serve as de facto Ha mas mouthpieces-or that the remaining al-Rab bay sons would be targeted next.
1 But through our partnership with The Center for Peace Communications, The Free Press was able to obtain exclusive interviews with Uday's mother and father and one of his cousins. This is the first time they've spoken publicly about what happened.
• • •
"He was a real man. He didn't like to beg for anything. He didn't like what was unjust." That was the first thing Uday's father said in describing his son.
Uday wasn't a militant, his father went on to explain. He was just a young man who wanted to live a normal life-and who refused to pretend Ha mas hadn't robbed him of that. Long before last week's demonstrations, Uday was known for speaking out against the terrorist group, and he had been persecuted for it. His mother said she warned him. "Be careful," she told her son. "You know they'll come for you."
"I'm not afraid," he replied.
About a year ago, his father said, Ha mas falsely accused Uday of stealing some cash and gold. They arrested him, took away his phone and all his savings, and tortured him.
Uday Nasser Saadi al-Rabbay (via X)
"They wanted to shoot him in both legs, but he escaped through the window and came home," his father said.
After the anti-Hamas protests erupted last week, Uday saw an opportunity to challenge Ha mas again. He went to the Ha mas-run police station and demanded to know if there were any charges against him.
There weren't. Then he demanded that Hamas return his phone and his money, and come to his neighborhood to issue a public apology for calling him a thief.
That never happened. Instead, they sent some 30 men to murder him. 2 "They caught him, tortured him, slashed his arms with knives, stabbed him with screwdrivers," his mother said. "They stabbed him 170 times. His whole body was stabbed and pierced, and the blood was pouring out."
Uday was one of 12 children. He had finished high school, but saw no point in pursuing college. "There's no future in higher education," his mother explained. "No jobs or anything. No stable work." Instead of burdening his father with college expenses, Uday wanted to help him support the family, his cousin said. Uday worked odd jobs when he could-stocking shelves at a supermarket, or clearing rubble, or selling firewood. He wanted to get married, too, but that dream was out of reach. "His fi nancial situation wasn't good," his mother said. "Not good enough to get married." Most of all, he just wanted to leave. His older brother Lu'ay had already somehow managed to escape Gaza, not an easy thing to do, and landed in Belgium. Uday planned to follow him. "He told me that once the war ends, and Ramadan starts, he'll emigrate to where Lu'ay is living," his mother said, her voice breaking. "He wanted to get out."
It's t he drea m of many in Gaza right now. "Every young Gazan man besieged in the Gaza Strip drea ms of leaving safely with all his family members," Uday's cousin said. "We want to live life like other people do.
We want education, a future, and jobs. We want a dignified life." That's what the protests were about. They were driven by young people who grew up in the ruins of Gaza, suffocating under Hamas rule, desperate to live a normal life.
Uday's family now lives in fear. His mother said Hamas never contacted them directly after their son was killed. But threats started coming in. "They're threatening his brothers now," she said. "Are we going to lose all our children?"
Uday's friends have also begun receiving threats, and some are now in hiding. lyad Jundia, one of the leaders of the anti-Ha mas protests in northern Gaza, Q_Q<;led ~ video on social media on Monday claiming the Qassam Brigades have placed his name on the "red list"-which he says is effectively a death list.
Uday's story hasn't made international headlines. There won't be marches for him in Western capitals.
There are no viral hashtags, or candlelight vigils, or statements from Western politicians or celebrities.
But inside Gaza, people know his name.
"He stood up in a coffee shop and shouted against Hamas," said Hadeel Oueis, the journalist who spoke with his family. "That small act made him a target. But it also made him a symbol. He was one of the few brave enough to speak up in public. And he paid the ultimate price for it." "People have started to speak out because of the death," Uday's cousin said. "One person is sitting, and suddenly there is a bombing that kills his son, father, mother, or even himself. So he says to himself, Do I die from the occupation and say nothing, or do I die while saying the truth? The people are fed up." Watch our exclusive interview with Uday's family here:
3 For more coverage of Gazans resisting Homos, read Tanya lukyanova's piece "Inside the lar est AoHHamas Protests in Gaza's Recent Histor . 11 4
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More than 1,300 Syrians killed in 72 hours amid clashes and acts of revenge March 9, 20255:50 PM ET
Juliana l<im
Syrian fighters and civilians carry the coffin of a member of the Syrian security forces during his funeral in Hama province on March 9.
Moawia Atras/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
More than 1,300 people in Syria have been killed - many believed to be civilians - in the span of three days amid intense fighting between forces associated with Syria's new government and those loyal to the deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad, according to a human rights group.
The conflict is considered the country's worst violence since insurgents toppjgg the Assad regime back in December. It's also the biggest test for Syria's new government since it has assumed power. 1 Middl , E· st crisis - explained
~ria imposes curfew after its worst clashes since the Assad regime ouster On Sunday, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 830 civilians have been killed, along with 231 Syrian security forces and 250 Alawite militants. The figures could not be independently verified.
The Observatory characterized many of the killings as executions and massacres, carried out in revenge against the Alawite community, which made up Assad's traditional base of support. The human rights group also reported burning·of homes and forced displacement, worsened by the absence of international intervention.
This aerial view shows members of security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government standing along a rocky beaech by Mediterranean sea coast in Syria's western city of Latakia on March 9.
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images
The fighting broke out on Thursday near the coast after report that Alawite gunmen ambushed and killed 16 government forces in the coastal province of Latakia.
In response, the government sent reinforcements to and imposed curfews on Latakia and neighboring Tartus.
2 Middle Eastcri•;is --- explained
Ahmed al-Sharaa, who toppled Assad, is named Syria's interim president At first, the casualties mainly involved those fighting on both sides, according to the Observatory's i:t~Ji_ort). But as clashes went on, the civilian death toll skyrocketed, with many people sJ101 at closera nge.
Part of the issue has been the involvement of other armed groups, who have sought to punish the Alawite sect for their previous support of the former regime.
Alawite leaders said their community around Latakia and Tartus have been the target of attacks for weeks, ever since the Assad regime was overthrown, NPR previously !:fQOrted .
People lift placards during a rally called for by Syrian activists "to mourn for the civilian and security personnel casualties," at al-Marjeh square in Damascus on March 9.
AFP via Getty lmages/AFP
The human rights group said the Alawite gunmen loyal to the former regime do not represent the Alawite community, and many Alawite residents desperately want peace.
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The new government is led by the rebel group responsible for ousting the Assad regime, Hayat Tahrir alSham. The group's leader and Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has repeatedly pledged that the government will protect all minorities, a promise that has eroveclJo be_ diffi ·ult, especially with the Alawites, in part because the government does not officially have a police force or army. 3