When an Israeli airstrike ripped through a building in central Beit Lahia on Monday night, the farming community in the northernmost part of Gaza was already on edge over an Israeli evacuation order hours earlier.
The events shook the town’s residents and reminded them of the perils of the war between Israel and Hamas, but they also helped catalyze rare demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza. For three consecutive days, hundreds of people have marched through the town to demand the end both of the war and of Hamas’s 18-year-old rule over Gaza — public protests that have spread to a number of other towns in the battered enclave.
“Hamas needs to go away,” said Ahmad al-Masri, 26, a resident of Beit Lahia who helped call for the demonstrations. “If it doesn’t, the bloodshed, the wars and the destruction won’t stop.”
While most of the demonstrations have been small, they represent the boldest challenge to Hamas’s authority by Palestinians in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack on Israel of October 2023 and the ensuing war, which has reduced cities to rubble.
They also embody the frustration of Palestinians who are again living through deadly and ear-shattering bombing after Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement to extend the cease-fire. They make clear that at least some Palestinians have put aside their fears about potential retribution by Hamas, which has governed Gaza with a heavy hand.
