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Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protests broke out against Hamas in Gaza. What do Palestinians think about the militant group?
Thousands of Palestinians chanted against Hamas during anti-war protests last week in the Gaza Strip, the biggest show of anger at the militant group since its attack on Israel ignited the war. Protesters said they were venting anger and desperation as they endure a new round of war and displacement after Israel ended a ceasefire. They leveled unusually direct criticism at Hamas even while remaining furious at Israel, the United States and others for their plight. Public expressions of dissent have been extremely rare since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. The militant group has violently dispersed occasional protests and jailed, tortured or killed those who challenged its rule. Hamas has faced no significant internal challenge since the start of the war and still controls Gaza, despite losing most of its top leaders and thousands of fighters. There is also nearly universal anger at Israel, whose offensive has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and flattened entire neighborhoods. Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid for a month and renewed its offensive. Israel blames the high death toll on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas, accusing it of showing no concern for Palestinian civilians. 'The protest was not about politics. It was about people's lives,' said Mohammed Abu Saker, a father of three from the bombed-out town of Beit Hanoun who joined a demonstration. 'We can't stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions.' Is Hamas popular? Nearly all Palestinians support some form of resistance to Israel's military occupation and expansion of settlements — which predate Hamas' founding in the 1980s. In general, support for Hamas in the occupied West Bank and Gaza tends to increase when it battles Israel and subside during periods of relative calm. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which has conducted scientific polling in Gaza and the West Bank for decades, found before this war began that about equal numbers of Palestinians supported Hamas and the secular Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who recognizes Israel and cooperates with it on security. But polls taken since the start of the war show Hamas has been consistently more popular than Fatah. The change is particularly pronounced in the West Bank, where support for Hamas rose immediately after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people that day, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. In Gaza, the polls provide some evidence that support for Hamas rose slightly in the immediate aftermath of the attack, but since then has returned to about where it stood previously. Hamas has not had the support of most Palestinians, in either territory, either before or after the war began. Wartime polling in Gaza is especially challenging due to a lack of access to some regions and mass displacement. There is also potentially even more pressure on respondents to answer a particular way. Tahani Mustafa, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said it's difficult to gauge Hamas' support. 'I wouldn't say it's either popular or unpopular at this point in time," she said. The Associated Press contacted dozens of Palestinians about Hamas in recent months. The vast majority declined to be interviewed or requested anonymity, fearing retribution from Hamas — or from Israel if they voiced support for the group. Many said they were just struggling to stay alive. Israel's offensive has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government. Its toll is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. Hamas has not disclosed the full extent of its losses. How does Hamas handle dissent? Hamas has violently suppressed dissent since seizing power from the Palestinian Authority —led by Fatah. Rights groups say both Palestinian authorities crack down on protests and detain and torture critics. In the past, Hamas has killed people it accused of being collaborators with Israel, as well as some who have challenged its rule. There are no confirmed reports of anyone being killed for taking part in the latest protests. Israel and Western nations consider Hamas a terrorist organization because of its long history of attacks that have killed Israeli civilians. Gaza residents, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, say plainclothes Hamas security men have patrolled the territory throughout the war, maintaining law and order while also quashing dissent. But Hamas' detractors may have other reasons for staying quiet. Any perceived criticism of armed resistance against Israel is generally frowned upon in Palestinian society and seen as treasonous by some, especially during wartime. Family elders of Beit Lahiya, where the first protest erupted last week, released a statement backing demands to end to the war while reaffirming their support for armed resistance. Saeed Abu Elaish, a medic from Jabaliya, one of the most heavily damaged areas in Gaza, lost his wife, their two daughters and several relatives in an Israeli airstrike. He said he's sick of hearing Hamas leaders call for more sacrifice. 'Stop this war. Stop these massacres,' he said. But he was also angry at Israel's expressions of support for the protests, accusing it of exploiting them. "It's mainly against Israel before it's against Hamas,' he said. Many Palestinians see armed resistance as the only path to independence because peace negotiations and forms of nonviolent resistance — like boycotts — have largely failed. 'There is a red line in the Palestinian national discourse. You simply don't criticize armed resistance,' Mustafa said. 'To do that will then provide the kind of pretext that Israel and the international community are looking for' to support Israel's actions. Why is there no alternative to Hamas in Gaza? The last serious Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in 2009, at the start of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nearly unbroken 15 years in power. Abbas, who is 89 and deeply unpopular, is still committed to a two-state solution, while the Israeli government is opposed to Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Hamas and ruled out any role for Abbas' Palestinian Authority in Gaza, saying it is not truly committed to peace. He says Israel will maintain open-ended security control, as it does in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority administers population centers. That means there is no one around whom opponents of Hamas might rally, and no postwar plan. Most Palestinians alive today were not old enough to vote the last time national elections were held, in 2006, when Hamas won a landslide victory. Abbas, whose mandate ended in 2009, has repeatedly promised elections only to postpone them, blaming Israeli restrictions. Polling indicates he would struggle to win reelection. Hamas has said it's willing to cede power in Gaza to other Palestinians but has rejected Israeli and U.S. demands that it disarm and go into exile. An armed Hamas would maintain influence in Gaza even if it gives up nominal authority. With no clear alternative to Hamas and no end in sight to the war, some protesters have expressed despair. 'Our children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed,' said Abed Radwan. He said the protest he joined last week was against the war, Hamas, other Palestinian factions, Israel and "the world's silence.' ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
The Hill
02-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Protests broke out against Hamas in Gaza. What do Palestinians think about the militant group?
Thousands of Palestinians chanted against Hamas during anti-war protests last week in the Gaza Strip, the biggest show of anger at the militant group since its attack on Israel ignited the war. Protesters said they were venting anger and desperation as they endure a new round of war and displacement after Israel ended a ceasefire. They leveled unusually direct criticism at Hamas even while remaining furious at Israel, the United States and others for their plight. Public expressions of dissent have been extremely rare since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. The militant group has violently dispersed occasional protests and jailed, tortured or killed those who challenged its rule. Hamas has faced no significant internal challenge since the start of the war and still controls Gaza, despite losing most of its top leaders and thousands of fighters. There is also nearly universal anger at Israel, whose offensive has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and flattened entire neighborhoods. Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid for a month and renewed its offensive. Israel blames the high death toll on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas, accusing it of showing no concern for Palestinian civilians. 'The protest was not about politics. It was about people's lives,' said Mohammed Abu Saker, a father of three from the bombed-out town of Beit Hanoun who joined a demonstration. 'We can't stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions.' Is Hamas popular? Nearly all Palestinians support some form of resistance to Israel's military occupation and expansion of settlements — which predate Hamas' founding in the 1980s. In general, support for Hamas in the occupied West Bank and Gaza tends to increase when it battles Israel and subside during periods of relative calm. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which has conducted scientific polling in Gaza and the West Bank for decades, found before this war began that about equal numbers of Palestinians supported Hamas and the secular Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who recognizes Israel and cooperates with it on security. But polls taken since the start of the war show Hamas has been consistently more popular than Fatah. The change is particularly pronounced in the West Bank, where support for Hamas rose immediately after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people that day, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. In Gaza, the polls provide some evidence that support for Hamas rose slightly in the immediate aftermath of the attack, but since then has returned to about where it stood previously. Hamas has not had the support of most Palestinians, in either territory, either before or after the war began. Wartime polling in Gaza is especially challenging due to a lack of access to some regions and mass displacement. There is also potentially even more pressure on respondents to answer a particular way. Tahani Mustafa, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said it's difficult to gauge Hamas' support. 'I wouldn't say it's either popular or unpopular at this point in time,' she said. The Associated Press contacted dozens of Palestinians about Hamas in recent months. The vast majority declined to be interviewed or requested anonymity, fearing retribution from Hamas — or from Israel if they voiced support for the group. Many said they were just struggling to stay alive. Israel's offensive has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government. Its toll is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. Hamas has not disclosed the full extent of its losses. How does Hamas handle dissent? Hamas has violently suppressed dissent since seizing power from the Palestinian Authority —led by Fatah. Rights groups say both Palestinian authorities crack down on protests and detain and torture critics. In the past, Hamas has killed people it accused of being collaborators with Israel, as well as some who have challenged its rule. There are no confirmed reports of anyone being killed for taking part in the latest protests. Israel and Western nations consider Hamas a terrorist organization because of its long history of attacks that have killed Israeli civilians. Gaza residents, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, say plainclothes Hamas security men have patrolled the territory throughout the war, maintaining law and order while also quashing dissent. But Hamas' detractors may have other reasons for staying quiet. Any perceived criticism of armed resistance against Israel is generally frowned upon in Palestinian society and seen as treasonous by some, especially during wartime. Family elders of Beit Lahiya, where the first protest erupted last week, released a statement backing demands to end to the war while reaffirming their support for armed resistance. Saeed Abu Elaish, a medic from Jabaliya, one of the most heavily damaged areas in Gaza, lost his wife, their two daughters and several relatives in an Israeli airstrike. He said he's sick of hearing Hamas leaders call for more sacrifice. 'Stop this war. Stop these massacres,' he said. But he was also angry at Israel's expressions of support for the protests, accusing it of exploiting them. 'It's mainly against Israel before it's against Hamas,' he said. Many Palestinians see armed resistance as the only path to independence because peace negotiations and forms of nonviolent resistance — like boycotts — have largely failed. 'There is a red line in the Palestinian national discourse. You simply don't criticize armed resistance,' Mustafa said. 'To do that will then provide the kind of pretext that Israel and the international community are looking for' to support Israel's actions. Why is there no alternative to Hamas in Gaza? The last serious Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in 2009, at the start of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nearly unbroken 15 years in power. Abbas, who is 89 and deeply unpopular, is still committed to a two-state solution, while the Israeli government is opposed to Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Hamas and ruled out any role for Abbas' Palestinian Authority in Gaza, saying it is not truly committed to peace. He says Israel will maintain open-ended security control, as it does in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority administers population centers. That means there is no one around whom opponents of Hamas might rally, and no postwar plan. Most Palestinians alive today were not old enough to vote the last time national elections were held, in 2006, when Hamas won a landslide victory. Abbas, whose mandate ended in 2009, has repeatedly promised elections only to postpone them, blaming Israeli restrictions. Polling indicates he would struggle to win reelection. Hamas has said it's willing to cede power in Gaza to other Palestinians but has rejected Israeli and U.S. demands that it disarm and go into exile. An armed Hamas would maintain influence in Gaza even if it gives up nominal authority. With no clear alternative to Hamas and no end in sight to the war, some protesters have expressed despair. 'Our children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed,' said Abed Radwan. He said the protest he joined last week was against the war, Hamas, other Palestinian factions, Israel and 'the world's silence.'
Associated Press
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Protests broke out against Hamas in Gaza. What do Palestinians think about the militant group?
Thousands of Palestinians chanted against Hamas during anti-war protests last week in the Gaza Strip, the biggest show of anger at the militant group since its attack on Israel ignited the war. Protesters said they were venting anger and desperation as they endure a new round of war and displacement after Israel ended a ceasefire. They leveled unusually direct criticism at Hamas even while remaining furious at Israel, the United States and others for their plight. Public expressions of dissent have been extremely rare since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. The militant group has violently dispersed occasional protests and jailed, tortured or killed those who challenged its rule. Hamas has faced no significant internal challenge since the start of the war and still controls Gaza, despite losing most of its top leaders and thousands of fighters. There is also nearly universal anger at Israel, whose offensive has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and flattened entire neighborhoods. Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid for a month and renewed its offensive. Israel blames the high death toll on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas, accusing it of showing no concern for Palestinian civilians. 'The protest was not about politics. It was about people's lives,' said Mohammed Abu Saker, a father of three from the bombed-out town of Beit Hanoun who joined a demonstration. 'We can't stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions.' Is Hamas popular? Nearly all Palestinians support some form of resistance to Israel's military occupation and expansion of settlements — which predate Hamas' founding in the 1980s. In general, support for Hamas in the occupied West Bank and Gaza tends to increase when it battles Israel and subside during periods of relative calm. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which has conducted scientific polling in Gaza and the West Bank for decades, found before this war began that about equal numbers of Palestinians supported Hamas and the secular Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas, who recognizes Israel and cooperates with it on security. But polls taken since the start of the war show Hamas has been consistently more popular than Fatah. The change is particularly pronounced in the West Bank, where support for Hamas rose immediately after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people that day, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. In Gaza, the polls provide some evidence that support for Hamas rose slightly in the immediate aftermath of the attack, but since then has returned to about where it stood previously. Hamas has not had the support of most Palestinians, in either territory, either before or after the war began. Wartime polling in Gaza is especially challenging due to a lack of access to some regions and mass displacement. There is also potentially even more pressure on respondents to answer a particular way. Tahani Mustafa, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said it's difficult to gauge Hamas' support. 'I wouldn't say it's either popular or unpopular at this point in time,' she said. The Associated Press contacted dozens of Palestinians about Hamas in recent months. The vast majority declined to be interviewed or requested anonymity, fearing retribution from Hamas — or from Israel if they voiced support for the group. Many said they were just struggling to stay alive. Israel's offensive has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government. Its toll is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. Hamas has not disclosed the full extent of its losses. How does Hamas handle dissent? Hamas has violently suppressed dissent since seizing power from the Palestinian Authority —led by Fatah. Rights groups say both Palestinian authorities crack down on protests and detain and torture critics. In the past, Hamas has killed people it accused of being collaborators with Israel, as well as some who have challenged its rule. There are no confirmed reports of anyone being killed for taking part in the latest protests. Israel and Western nations consider Hamas a terrorist organization because of its long history of attacks that have killed Israeli civilians. Gaza residents, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, say plainclothes Hamas security men have patrolled the territory throughout the war, maintaining law and order while also quashing dissent. But Hamas' detractors may have other reasons for staying quiet. Any perceived criticism of armed resistance against Israel is generally frowned upon in Palestinian society and seen as treasonous by some, especially during wartime. Family elders of Beit Lahiya, where the first protest erupted last week, released a statement backing demands to end to the war while reaffirming their support for armed resistance. Saeed Abu Elaish, a medic from Jabaliya, one of the most heavily damaged areas in Gaza, lost his wife, their two daughters and several relatives in an Israeli airstrike. He said he's sick of hearing Hamas leaders call for more sacrifice. 'Stop this war. Stop these massacres,' he said. But he was also angry at Israel's expressions of support for the protests, accusing it of exploiting them. 'It's mainly against Israel before it's against Hamas,' he said. Many Palestinians see armed resistance as the only path to independence because peace negotiations and forms of nonviolent resistance — like boycotts — have largely failed. 'There is a red line in the Palestinian national discourse. You simply don't criticize armed resistance,' Mustafa said. 'To do that will then provide the kind of pretext that Israel and the international community are looking for' to support Israel's actions. Why is there no alternative to Hamas in Gaza? The last serious Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in 2009, at the start of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nearly unbroken 15 years in power. Abbas, who is 89 and deeply unpopular, is still committed to a two-state solution, while the Israeli government is opposed to Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Hamas and ruled out any role for Abbas' Palestinian Authority in Gaza, saying it is not truly committed to peace. He says Israel will maintain open-ended security control, as it does in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority administers population centers. That means there is no one around whom opponents of Hamas might rally, and no postwar plan. Most Palestinians alive today were not old enough to vote the last time national elections were held, in 2006, when Hamas won a landslide victory. Abbas, whose mandate ended in 2009, has repeatedly promised elections only to postpone them, blaming Israeli restrictions. Polling indicates he would struggle to win reelection. Hamas has said it's willing to cede power in Gaza to other Palestinians but has rejected Israeli and U.S. demands that it disarm and go into exile. An armed Hamas would maintain influence in Gaza even if it gives up nominal authority. With no clear alternative to Hamas and no end in sight to the war, some protesters have expressed despair. 'Our children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed,' said Abed Radwan. He said the protest he joined last week was against the war, Hamas, other Palestinian factions, Israel and 'the world's silence.'
Japan Times
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Israel must not ignore the anti-Hamas protests in Gaza
Typically, a small anti-war demonstration would not be front-page news unless it happened somewhere like Moscow, where few dare openly to oppose the Kremlin's ongoing aggression against Ukraine. But in war-torn Gaza, the stakes would be even higher. Even before the current conflict, Hamas responded to any criticism of its misrule with brutal repression and torture. Yet on March 25, hundreds of people took to the streets in Beit Lahiya (northern Gaza) to protest not only against the war, but against Hamas. With chants of 'stop war,' 'Hamas out,' 'Hamas terrorists,' the demonstrators sent exactly the right message: For the war to end, Hamas — which started it — must be removed from power. Nor were the Beit Lahiya protesters alone. As news and videos of this extraordinary event spread on social media, similar spontaneous demonstrations erupted elsewhere in Gaza, first in Jabalia and Khan Yunis, and then in Shejaiya, one of the enclave's largest communities. While most of the protesters refused to identify themselves by name to reporters, they nonetheless showed their faces. On Wednesday, over 3,000 people demonstrated again in Beit Lahiya. Anti-Hamas slogans were more visible, but protesters stressed that their main objective is for the war to end. 'We can't stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions,' said Mohammed Abu Saker, a father of three from the nearby town of Beit Hanoun. Even Hamas-controlled media covered the event, though only after editing out statements attacking the Islamists' rule. Though still relatively small in scale, the demonstrations clearly indicate a shift in opinion. After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Hamas took power the following year in the only free elections the Palestinians had ever had. Fatah, the secular nationalist party with majority support in the West Bank, had been tainted by corruption, so more Gazans voted for Hamas, which promised not terrorism, but clean government, even running under the name 'Change and Reform.' But after winning the election, Hamas violently expelled Fatah from Gaza — 345 people were killed in the process — and started firing rockets at Israel. This caused a series of wars, culminating in the current one — by far the most violent yet. Neither Gaza nor the West Bank has held an election in 20 years and Hamas's rule has proved no less corrupt than Fatah's (municipal elections have been held in the West Bank, but Hamas has boycotted all of them). Meanwhile, Israeli governments — led mainly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — have regarded Hamas's totalitarian rule in Gaza as advantageous. With terrorists in power in Gaza and corrupt incompetents in Ramallah (the seat of the Palestinian Authority), the argument goes, Israel has had no legitimate counterparty with which to negotiate. Then came Oct. 7, 2023. The scale and viciousness of the slaughter, which visibly had broad support in Gaza, seemed to prove Netanyahu's point. Even the country's moderate president, Isaac Herzog, said — in the shock of the immediate aftermath of the slaughter — that 'there is an entire nation out there that is responsible.' In a November 2023 poll conducted by the respected Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 72% of Palestinians thought Hamas was 'correct' to launch the Oct. 7 attack, while over 90% refused to believe that civilians were killed on that day. Yet it is worth noting that support was much higher in the West Bank (82%) than in Gaza (57%), which was already enduring Israel's counterattack. Similarly, overall support for Hamas had been consistently higher in the West Bank, where it is the opposition, than in Gaza, which has suffered under its rule. Since then, however, support for the attack and for Hamas has been systematically declining, though the difference between West Bank and Gazan attitudes remains. Last fall, only 39% of Gazans supported the attack and in January 2025 only around 20% supported Hamas rule. This disenchantment almost certainly reflects the high cost of the war — there have been more than 50,000 fatalities (civilian and combatant) in Gaza, according to the unverifiable data provided by Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health — rather than a revaluation of attitudes toward terrorism. Still, the recent demonstrations indicate that a segment of Palestinian opinion in Gaza wants the war over and Hamas out. That means it shares Israel's own stated goals. Yet Netanyahu's government, embroiled in an internal political crisis of its own making, has failed to respond to the Gaza protests. Apart from a cursory remark by the defense minister, Israel Katz, there has been radio silence. With Israel having broken the ceasefire and reignited the war, Netanyahu's claim to want peace rings increasingly hollow. True, the Gaza protesters have not spoken out explicitly against the continuing detention of 59 Israeli hostages — only 24 of whom are believed to remain alive. But this issue, understandably, might not seem too important to them, just as the Gazans' fate is not a high priority for the Israeli anti-government protesters who want to free the hostages. What matters is that some Gazans and some Israelis have common ground — even if their governments do not share their goals. That is unprecedented. The demonstrators in Beit Lahiya and Tel Aviv cannot end the war. But they do represent the only possible path to a lasting peace. Konstanty Gebert is a Polish journalist, former anti-communist activist, and the author of 14 books on Polish, Jewish and international affairs.© Project Syndicate, 2025
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Palestinians protest Hamas in the streets
Palestinian protesters took to the streets in Gaza this week to demand an end to the war that has raged there since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. With messages like, 'We want an end to the war,' 'Hamas terrorists,' and 'the blood of our children is not cheap,' thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in a rare display of resistance against the ruling Hamas government. Reuters reported that the marches took place in northern Gaza, which has been devastated by the war. Whole blocks have been eradicated and much of the population has relocated, while thousands of Gazans have been killed, according to reports. Palestinians appeared to largely supported Hamas in the days following the Oct. 7 attacks, citing Israel's so-called 'occupation' of Gaza, according to CNN. But the prolonged conflict has led to outward displays of resistance, despite Hamas crackdowns. 'We want to stop the killing and displacement, no matter the price,' said Palestinian Mohammed Abu Saker, who participated in the protest, per CBS News. 'We can't stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions.' 'People are angry at the whole world,' a 19-year-old Palestinian shared with reporters. He called out the United States, Israel and Hamas. 'We want Hamas to resolve this situation, return the hostages and end this whole thing.' Hamas and Israel previously agreed to a ceasefire, which the United States helped broker, as the Deseret News previously reported. But both sides have accused one another of breaking the ceasefire multiple times, and after only two months of tenuous peace, Israel launched missiles on Gaza and demanded that the 56 hostages still held by Hamas be released. Mediators continue to labor to find an end to the war, but neither Israel nor Hamas is yet willing to concede to the conditions of the other side. According to reports, Israel wants Hamas to surrender the Israeli hostages it holds, those who are alive or dead, and then relinquish control of Gaza. Hamas unequivocally condemned the protesters, calling them Israeli 'agents' and accusing them of working on behalf of its political opponent, the Palestinian Authority, which wants to govern Gaza in place of Hamas, per Newsweek. Hamas has blamed Israel for the protests. 'Demonstrations are expected from people facing extermination, against war and destruction,' Basem Naim, a senior Hamas leader, told a Qatari news channel. 'People are calling to stop the aggression, but the enemy (Israel) and other parties with political agendas are diverting the spontaneous protests to serve the occupation's (Israel's) agenda and trying to portray it as if the demonstrators are against the resistance (Hamas),' said Naim. In the past Hamas has used violence to crack down on such demonstrations, per CBS News.
