Gazans Are Protesting Against Hamas. Here’s Why…
For nearly two decades, Gaza has lived under two sieges, one imposed from the outside, that is Israel’s blockade, the other is from within, and that is Hamas’s rule. In 2006, Hamas won the elections in Gaza, that was the last election that Gaza saw, 2006. What followed was a brief but brutal power struggle with the Palestinian Authority, Hamas By 2007, Hamas had seized full control of Gaza, many Gazans hoped that this would bring change, that their lives would improve, but that never happened, all they got were cycles of conflict.
In 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, the retaliation was swift and devastating, Gaza became the battleground and now it lies in ruin. Survival is a daily fight, so after all this suffering, the people of Gaza are finally saying enough is enough, they want Hamas gone. Gaza says they want Hamas out. It’s a rare show of public outrage, especially against the Hamas, and you can understand why this is rare. This outrage often comes at a hefty price. Hamas rules Gaza with an iron grip. Any show of dissent is crushed swiftly.
No one is allowed to talk against them. Even while Hamas was fighting Israel, it was busy rounding up protesters. They were beaten up for speaking out. Some disappeared from the public eye. Others were even left to die. But it seems Gazans have nothing to fear anymore. Their dissent has been building up for some time now. Some people are turning Hamas fighters away, refusing to help them. Others do not want their houses to become Hamas hideouts. They’re not letting them in.
So Hamas may still control the guns, but they’re losing the streets. The question is, is all of this coming too late? Should Gazans have spoken up sooner?
Because look at the state of the Gaza Strip. It is a mound of rubble, and Israel is unrelenting. Their Prime Minister has vowed to take full control of Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will fight on. They’ve launched a new offensive. Yesterday a whole city was declared a combat zone. There were multiple airstrikes. Nearly 60 people were killed. So Israel’s plan is very simple. It wants to end the Hamas, even if that means wiping out all of Gaza. 
“This is part of defeating Hamas. In parallel with the tremendous military pressure, our massive entry, to essentially take over all of Gaza and strip Hamas of all ability to plunder humanitarian aid. This is the war and victory plan.”
On the ground, the situation is worsening, and it’s the people of Gaza who are paying the price. They’re starving. Earlier Israel had stopped the passage of aid into the Strip. Netanyahu came under immense international pressure because of this. So he seems to have caved a little. He says Israel has agreed to let some aid into Gaza, but it’s hardly enough to feed everyone. The United Nations has issued a staff warning. It says 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours in Gaza if more aid does not enter the Strip.
Akihiro Seita (Health Director, UNRWA)
“ It’s unthinkable that 10% of kids are malnourished. It’s unthinkable that we have severe malnourished children in Gaza, where the youth enjoy life, and there’s no life in Gaza. That’s what our staff says. And this will affect our operations.”
Israel’s new offensive has not gone down well with the world, especially the UK, France, and Canada. They are threatening action against Israel. They want the ground operation to stop. The UK has already halted trade talks with Israel. It has also summoned the Israeli ambassador.
Keir Staetmer (Prime Minister U.K)
“We repeat our demand to massively scale up humanitarian assistance into Gaza. The recent announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza, a basic quantity, is totally and utterly inadequate. So we must coordinate our response, because this war has gone on for far too long. We cannot allow the people of Gaza to start. “
So Gaza is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. On one side is Hamas. They rule with fear and crackdown. On the other side is Israel. It bombs the Strip without pause. And it’s very easy to frame this tragedy as a binary, Hamas versus Israel. But this framing erases the third party, the people of Gaza. After all, they are the ones who are paying the price. They are the ones who are dying. They are the ones who are burying their children. They are the ones who are stuck in the rubble. So they are now raising their voices, demanding a future where there are no longer pawns in a larger game.
