[News] Beyond the Headlines: What Lies behind the Anti-Hamas Protests in Gaza?

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Beyond the Headlines: What Lies behind the Anti-Hamas Protests in Gaza?March
28, 2025
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What Lies Behind the Anti-Hamas Protests in Gaza? (Design: Palestine
Chronicle)

*By Robert Inlakesh
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/robert-inlakesh>*

Palestine Chronicle’s Robert Inlakesh examines the true motivations behind
the anti-Hamas protests in Gaza, dissecting media portrayals and
geopolitical influences.

Protests broke out in Gaza twice this week, included within which were
contingents that voiced anger at Hamas.

These incidents received significant media attention that portray an
organic uprising against the Palestinian movement that maintains governing
power inside the besieged territory, but is this the truth?

On Tuesday, a series of small protests began against the war in Gaza, which
occurred in the territory’s north, the most notable took place in Beit
Lahia.

“Hamas out,” some signs read, and a few dozen were recorded chanting the
same, as others held up posters calling for an end to the war. The
following day, local leaders also called for protests in other areas
throughout Gaza, all of which denounced the anti-Hamas elements.

The first day of the protests did feature a clear anti-Hamas element, but
its size was very small and popular support was non-existent, which was
reflected in a joint statement issued by community notables in Beit Lahia
who denounced any attempts to attack the Palestinian resistance, meaning
Hamas in this case.

However, suddenly, the Israeli media, in addition to Saudi state-funded
outlets Al-Hadath and Al-Arabiyya, began covering the protests as if an
anti-Hamas uprising was occurring from within the Gaza Strip. It wasn’t
long before Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz even weighed in to
encourage continued protests, as officials from the Palestinian Authority
(PA) also did the same.

After various calls for protests, encouraged by the PA and Israel, the
following day there were a few hundred who decided to show up and voice
their disdain for Hamas. Despite the small scale of the demonstrations, the
Western corporate media and a handful of Palestinian influencers online
managed to make it appear as if these demonstrations were the will of the
majority in the Gaza Strip.
*Why Did These Protests Happen?*

To begin with, it is important to note that the protests were minuscule in
size compared to the rather robust anti-Hamas demonstrations that had
previously taken place prior to the beginning of the Gaza genocide in
October of 2023. The majority of the hype occurred online and through the
media.

In September of 2023, thousands of Palestinians throughout Gaza had taken
to the streets for a number of days in order to protest against the
governance of the territory by Hamas, an affair that quickly ended
following mediation. There were also countless protests in Gaza over the
years against Hamas, as they were the elected governing force, over a whole
range of issues.

Some of these demonstrations were initiated by former employees of the
Fatah-run PA, which is a Hamas rival, while others were spontaneous and
genuine.

While it is impossible to know the intentions of each and every person out
of the few hundred who decided to protest against Hamas over the two day
period, it is important to note that there were public calls from both the
Palestinian Authority and Israel that encouraged the demonstrations.

One thing to keep in mind here is that there are still people in Gaza who
genuinely disapprove of Hamas as a political party, while the population at
large is also currently in a desperate state due to the Israeli genocide
and the blocking of all aid from entering the territory.

This means that throughout the war, there have been conditions conducive
for countless people to be paid to collaborate with Israel and the PA.
Unfortunately, this came in the form of criminal gangs who stole aid or
forced aid agencies to pay bribes to allow the passage of goods into
civilian areas.

These bands of armed outlaws worked under the direct supervision of the
Israeli military and were permitted to approach aid trucks, to hoard goods,
sending the prices through the roof, while also seeking to crumble law and
order in the absence of the Hamas security force presence on the streets.

In fact, Israel tried to use these criminal elements in the northern Gaza
Strip throughout the war, but failed dramatically after they were
effectively purged by Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Even the PA
tried to find a foothold in various areas of Gaza throughout the war, but
also failed abysmally.

None of this is to say that there aren’t frustrated people in Gaza who just
want the war to end and are desperate enough to see that through any means,
nor is it to disregard those who hold legitimate personal grievances or
political differences with Hamas.

These people do exist, and the population of Gaza is far from a monolith.
Yet, it is also true that they were encouraged by Israel and the PA for
their own insidious purposes, with indications that loyalists were part of
the protests themselves. In addition to this, all data indicates that the
overwhelming majority of people in Gaza are in support of the resistance
factions’ armed wings, despite political alignment being extremely mixed.

It is also notable that the ‘National Assembly of Palestinian Tribes,
Clans, and Families’ also denounced the anti-Hamas protesters in an
official statement:

“Amid the resumption of the genocidal war waged by the zionist enemy
against the Gaza Strip for approximately a year and a half, and given our
people’s steadfastness in the face of all enemy plans (tribal alternatives,
General’s Plan, humanitarian bubbles, etc.)—all of which have failed
against our people’s steadfastness, patience, and resilience—suspicious
parties have emerged at a dubious time, mobilizing a handful of misled
individuals under the guise of Palestinian families, clans, and tribes,
presenting demands that completely align with the zionist enemy and its
collaborators.

“Thus, we in the National Assembly of Palestinian Tribes, Clans, and
Families affirm the following:

   1. Palestinian tribes, clans, and families constitute an essential
   component of our Palestinian people, upon whose strength the enemy’s most
   dangerous schemes to create loyal tribal alternatives have been shattered.
   2. Palestinian tribes, clans, and families remain the primary support
   for the resistance, with resistance cadres and leaders coming from among
   us; resistance to occupation remains the only path as long as the
   occupation persists.
   3. We warn all those who speak in the name of Palestinian tribes, clans,
   and families participating in suspicious movements, affirm our
   non-participation, and call on our people not to participate.
   4. We declare that we withdraw tribal and national support from those
   driving these suspicious activities. We support any actions taken by
   relevant authorities against them and demand that these authorities act
   decisively against those attempting to sow discord among our people during
   this exceptional period in our Palestinian cause.

“In conclusion, we extend great greetings to our steadfast and resilient
people and to the heroic resistance. Mercy upon our righteous martyrs,
swift recovery to our noble wounded, freedom to our brave prisoners, and
victory is the ally of our people.”
*What Are The Goals Of The Demonstrations?*

As of now, there isn’t really an anti-Hamas movement to even be spoken of,
despite the desperate attempts to portray this by influencers, along with
Saudi, Israeli, and Western media. However, if a revolt did actually start,
openly calling for the expulsion of Hamas, it is important to understand
what this means.

Israel’s goal in Gaza is clearly the mass expulsion of the civilian
population. They overtly seek the ethnic cleansing of besieged territory to
make way for a land grab. The only thing preventing this from happening is
the existence of the Palestinian armed resistance factions; without them,
the Israelis would simply take over Gaza, and its people would be at the
mercy of their military.

Some would then argue that if Hamas was to leave, along with the other
Palestinian armed factions, this could pave the way for an end to the war,
and the conditions of the people would improve. Not only is this
proposition directly contradicted by the Israeli leadership itself, but the
historical examples also point to the very opposite.

When the Israelis launched their onslaught on Lebanon in 1982, during which
Israel murdered between 15,000 to 20,000 people, the Palestine Liberation
Organisation (PLO) agreed to flee to Tunisia.

When they fighters departed and nobody was left behind to fight back,
Israel used its fascist allied militia forces to commit a series of
civilian massacres, including the largest mass murder of civilians in a
single day in the history of the conflict amongst the refugees of Sabra and
Shatila, most of whom were women and children.

In response to those who argue that the absence of armed factions would
pave the way for an effective non-violent resistance, an example currently
exists for this, it’s called the West Bank. Not only has the PA denounced
the armed struggle, killing, arresting, and torturing its own people when
they attempt an armed rebellion, but they also actively carry out Israel’s
dirty work in the West Bank.

Despite the PA’s attacks on its own people, which have now extended to
cracking down on protests against the genocide in Gaza with brute force,
the Israeli settlements continue to expand throughout the West Bank.

Not only does the Israeli government seize more Palestinian land there, but
at this current time, the death toll there is currently higher than during
the height of the Second Intifada, when there was a well-oiled armed
resistance that was backed by former PA President Yasser Arafat.

On top of this, Gaza tried non-violent resistance in 2018 with the Great
Return March. What happened? Israel mass murdered hundreds of unarmed
civilians, including women, children, the elderly, journalists, paramedics,
and even disabled people, injuring tens of thousands more. The Western
corporate media simply ignored it or claimed that Israel was defending its
“border”.

So, let’s imagine the scenario that Hamas is forced out of Gaza. Who is
going to stop Israel from ethnically cleansing, re-occupying, and annexing
the territory?

If Israel is seeking annexation of the West Bank, while continuing to
ethnically cleanse East Jerusalem, which it already annexed illegally, then
what incentive would there be to somehow allow the people of Gaza to
rebuild and govern themselves?

As of now, Israel can’t implement its ethnic cleansing plan because of
three factors: The armed resistance, the Israeli captives, and the
surrounding Arab regimes, which don’t want to absorb the civilian
population of Gaza.

Although the anti-Hamas protests aren’t actually significant enough to be
considered a factor at this time, let’s imagine that the dozens of people
chanting “Hamas out” got what they were looking for. The reality is they
would most likely be displaced themselves.

Despite there being anti-Hamas opinions in Gaza and the suffering
population being under the most unbearable pressure known to man, the idea
that expelling Hamas through force would somehow be positive or that the
majority of Palestinians in Gaza believe this to be a viable option, is
simply meritless.

If Israel’s intentions were to fight Hamas, they could have done that, yet
they chose to inflict a genocide, they chose to blow up the majority of the
civil infrastructure and make the territory unlivable, and they are
currently choosing to starve the entire population through implementing a
complete ban on all humanitarian aid.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


*– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He
focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this
article to The Palestine Chronicle. *
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