'For God's sake – Hamas out': Second day of protests sweeps Gaza as unrest expands
Photo: AFP: Anti-Hamas protests in Beit Lahiya
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
For the second consecutive day, rare and growing protests erupted across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as thousands of Palestinians voiced frustration with Hamas , calling for an end to the war with Israel and demanding the terror group relinquish power.
The demonstrations, which began Tuesday in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, expanded Wednesday to new areas including Gaza City’s Shejaiya and Sabra neighborhoods, the Nuseirat refugee camp and the central city of Deir al-Balah. Protesters chanted slogans denouncing Hamas and carried signs reading, “Stop the war,” “We want to live,” and “Our children's blood is not cheap.”
In Shejaiya, a Hamas stronghold with a battalion largely composed of local residents, demonstrators shouted, “For God's sake – Hamas out.” It was the first time residents of the neighborhood had staged such a protest since the conflict began in October.
In Beit Lahiya, where protests continued for a second day, crowds repeated chants heard the night before: “Hamas out, out, Hamas is a terrorist.” The slogan echoes those used during mass demonstrations in Egypt against the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Hamas is affiliated.
“We’re the ones paying the price, not them,” a protester in Beit Lahiya said. “This war must end. Hamas must go.”
In central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, residents joined the protest movement for the first time, marching with signs and demanding a halt to the violence. Protesters in Nuseirat called on Hamas leaders to leave Gaza. “Not Haniyeh, not al-Zahar — we will decide,” one participant said, referring to senior Hamas officials.
Earlier Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz released a video in Hebrew and Arabic urging Gazans to join the protests and call for Hamas’s removal and the release of Israeli hostages. He warned that the Israeli military would soon expand operations in Gaza and advised civilians to evacuate for their safety. “Hamas is endangering your lives and will cause you to lose your homes and more territory,” Katz said.
Despite warnings from Hamas’s internal security forces urging residents not to protest, public anger continued to mount. The group accused Israel of attempting to manipulate public opinion by encouraging Gazans to rise up.
“The enemy’s defense minister, Israel Katz, today called on our resilient people in Gaza to rise up against the resistance,” Hamas said in a statement. “We remind Katz that every Palestinian family has a son, father, brother or uncle [involved in the resistance]. So how can you ask us to rebel against our own people?”
Protesters dismissed that claim, insisting their grievances stem from local suffering and not outside influence.
Mundar Hayek, a spokesperson for the rival Fatah movement in Gaza, urged Hamas to heed the people’s demands and step down, warning that its continued rule jeopardizes the Palestinian cause. He called on the group to allow the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to assume control of the Strip.
“Gaza residents are again demanding that Hamas step aside so their children won’t be sacrificed for narrow partisan interests,” Hayek said. He noted that local clans had previously asked Hamas to give up power, but the group had not responded.
Demonstrators announced plans for further protests Thursday afternoon, signaling momentum behind a movement that poses one of the most serious challenges to Hamas’s authority in years.
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For the second consecutive day, rare and growing protests erupted across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as thousands of Palestinians voiced frustration with Hamas , calling for an end to the war with Israel and demanding the terror group relinquish power.
Protesters chanted slogans denouncing Hamas and carried signs reading, “Stop the war,” “We want to live,” and “Our children's blood is not cheap.”
It's fucking well about time - think of the number of Gazans who would still be alive if they had only used their brains.
The answer is there would be no damn difference.
Hamas ruled Gaza with an iron fist. Went against Hamas you and your family paid the price.
If protests in Gaza are being held and Hamas isn't stamping them out, it proves Hamas is no longer in control.
Don't expect Israel to let up one damn bit in their effort to force Palestinians out of Gaza. That is the goal; not the eradication of Hamas.
Just take a look at what Israel is doing in the West Bank who had nothing to do with Oct 7th if you need proof. This isn't about Hamas. This is about Israel wanting the Palestinians out; and finally having a blowhorn in the White House that will fully back them.
Also, Israel/Trump turned down Egypt's offer to rebuild Gaza for the Palestinians. Trump threw down the gauntlet to the Arab countries to fix the problem; and Israel/Trump then rejected the solution. Not surprising since Israel along with the Arab states is the reason that the Palestinians are in this situation to begin with.
Let us know when Israel (as supposed Democracy) finally ousts Bibi and all of the other Zionists from their government.
Until then the Palestinian death count will continue to climb as Israel creates more facts on the ground.
With the attitude voiced in that comment I'm surprised that the history of this conflict wasn't the other way around, that on Oct 7 a thousand Israeli soldiers invaded Gaza, raped the women and sliced off their breasts before murdering them, invaded the homes of the Gazans and roasted the Muslim babies in the ovens, plucked out the eyes of the fathers before slicing off their heads and then kidnapped a few hundred Gazans to hold hostage in Israel. Then when Hamas retaliated and tried to rescue the hostages the Zionists around the world protested and demonstrated and made the lives of Muslim students in the universities afraid to attend classes. So THAT'S the reason so many Israelis are demonstrating in the streets these days. Thanks for your opinion, Ronin2, it corrects the misconception I've had about the issue.
Never gonna happen.
Never gonna oust Zionists.
Why?
Because Zionists are simply people that believe Jews have a right to their ancient homeland.
Zionists may be Right wing, Left wing, etc-- "Zionism" has nothing to do with where they are on the politicla spectrum...
(In fact the early Zionists...the founders of Israel... were mainly Socialists and even some were democratic Communists!)
Are you aware of the fact that Israel had occuped Gaza--- for many years. And then they ended the Occupation-- they left voluntarily!
They weren't kicked out-- they chose to end the Occupation-- they no longer wanted to be there.
(So what makes you think they suddently changed their mind?)
I think that you are partially right in that the right wing that is currently in control of the Israeli government is hell bent on displacing the Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. That is why the defense minister just re-joined the cabinet. It is no secret: The Israeli cabinet wants the Palestinians to leave, one way or the other. It could be under their own power or in a body bag, it makes no difference to them. This is not just Hamas proper, this is all the Palestinians. Just ask them. They will say it is so.
Ethnic Cleansing anyone?
The West Bank and Gaza are both "poison pills" for Israel. Palestinians‘ birthrates are explosive, while Israeli‘s are not. "Absorbing" the West Bank and Gaza would be suicide for Israel, which would have an overwhelming Muslim majority within a few years.
And we have seen how Muslims manage democracy. Not well.
Viewing recent events, nobody is a competent caretaker of Democracy right now.
Canada looks good. The EU - except Hungary - looks good. Japan looks good.
All the countries Trump is attacking, that is...
No kidding? In only took more than a year and the loss of more than 50,000 of their spouses brothers sisters children and parents to figure that out. I wonder what the demonstrators around the world are going to do now that they see that the terrorist Hamas propaganda has been figured out, a lot sooner than the world-wide ignorant protesters and demonstrators.
Definitely a good sign that many of them have (finally) realized what was going on . . .
But before we get too optimisitic, we should remember that many of the people of Gaza has finally figured out what was going on. But that's some-- not all.
But before we get too optimisitic, we should remember that many of the people of Gaza has finally figured out what was going on. But that's some-- not all.
There are still a lot who are still "true believers"...
That's because they've been so well indoctrinated against the Jews by UNRWA.
Of course. After all the Qoran commands them to kill the Jews and their Imams preach to them that ''the Day of Judgment'' will not come until they have fought the Jews and killed them. I have a few times already posted proof ot those two things.
Yeah, but at some point it could reach a critical mass and explode.
Hopefully.
And for the highest good for all concerned, it will happen sooner rather than later.
“We’re the ones paying the price, not them,” a protester in Beit Lahiya said. “This war must end. Hamas must go.”
Unfortunately the United Nations backed the terrorists rather than the victims of the terrorists, and that contributed to the magnitude of the disaster. It certainly lost my respect for the United Nations. But that loss of respect was building up for a long time even before Oct 7. I can still recall the article from years ago about the UN translator being overhead saying how sorry it was to be a witness to such obvious antisemitism.
Well, part of the problem is... the Arabs have the oil, and the Jews have the Oranges...
And of course another part of it is the vast number of Moslem nations (IIRC 55!) ...lots of votes in the general Assembly!
Actually the original wording of that was something like:
The Israelis problem is because when Moses and the Jews crossed the Red Sea, if he had turned Right instead of Left, the Jews would've had the Oil and the Arabs would have had the Oranges. But because he turned Left, now the Jews have the Oranges and the Arabs have the Oil.
I'll interpret ''The Jews have the oranges'' as meaning that the Jews have the Nobel laureates and inventors of scientific and medical breakthroughs and the Arabs have the money. And we all know who are the ones that are most respected in the world, don't we.
That's a valid interpretation.
Actually the original was less a reference to the attributes of the peoples and more a reference to the land that they had (the Arabs had the oil, but originally mostly what the Jews got was agricultural-- they could grow fruits and vegetables that grew well in hot climates, which of course was hardly as valuable as oil).
Since then the Israelis have discovered oil, Not the huge amounts some of the Arab countries have-- but there has been underseas oil off the coasts of Lebanon, Israel, Gaza (and possibly Egypt). . .
I'm sure that the other nations will lay claim to it as well.
Because of the chaotic and damaging governance dictated by Trump, being carried out by the sheep with whom he surrounded himself, there is just too much horrifying news these days to think about the Gaza conflict.
Well, that's drawn my attention too-- but when I saw this particular article, I realized that it was important news! (I had thoughts like "What took you so long"?)
There's an olde saying:
There's no cure for 'Stuck on Stupid'".
Or as one famous person once said:
I know of two things that are Infinite, the Universe and Human Stupidity. And I'm not entirely sure about the former...
I think we explained that above.
Now, you know very well that it was a Jew who said that.
Hard to believe the folks in Gaza have taken this long to come to the conclusion Hamas ruling is not in their best interest.
If Gaza runs out of Hamas sympathizers they could always import them from US college campuses, I am sure they would be happy to make the trip.
I suggested about a year ago that they should be sent to Gaza to help out the terrorists they were supporting.
I agreed with it then but I do have to wonder why they would have to be sent there, they should volunteer to go. That way they could get a real good idea of what they are supporting.
They may think they have the balls to protest and demonstrate, but there's no way they would have the balls to voluntarily join their heroes.
Yes, the pro-Hamas types.
(And especially those gays who are so strongly pro-"Palestine"!)
If that happens, I would hope they remember to send any gay students who are anti-Israel--- they might find being gay in Gaza to be...somewhat of an "educational experience".
The Palestinian people is a recent construct. Arabs have lived in the region practically since the birth of Islam, but they were pretty much indistinguishable from Arabs living elsewhere in the Middle East, in the arc that runs from Sinai through Syria, bending around to Mesopotamia.
A "Palestinian identity" didn't appear until the British (as always
) came in with their usual divide-and-conquer rule. Jews and Muslims had lived together in the region since forever, but the Brits ended that by spotlighting immigration by Jews who bought (perfectly legally) land.
The Brits gave three-quarters of the League of Nations's Palestinian Mandate to the Arabs.
When the UN proposed partition of the remaining quarter, in 1947, the Jews agreed, but Arab nations - led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia - refused. The Palestinians were not consulted.
The Palestinians have been getting screwed since 1947. By those Arab nations, and then by their own self-appointed "leaders". They have been transformed from farmers and herders into welfare-dependent drones.
Thousands of Palestinians have died since their "leaders" chose to make war against Israel. Those "leaders" persist in calling for the destruction of Israel and the death of the Jews, thereby ensuring that Israel will continue to kill Palestinians.
A cynic might imagine that those Palestinian "leaders" are only too happy to have more and more "martyrs", to cement their authority.
Palestinians. Screwed since 1947. But not by Israel.
Don't forget that their holy bible, the Qoran itself, calls for the Muslims to kill the Jews, and their Imans preach to them that The Day of Judgment will not come until they have fought and killed the Jews. A devout Muslim would consider it a DUTY. That is what Jews are up against and have to defend themselves from.
God hasn't spoken to anyone - with a tape recorder going - for a very long time. Never, as far as I know.
The Qoran was compiled by human scribes decades after Mohammed's death. They transcribed memories. So it is an act of faith to "believe" that it's the Word of Allah.
Personally, if given the choice between "our god requires us to commit murder" and "errors may have slipped into the Holy Book"... I'd rather have a God I can be proud of.
Muslims are good at creating non-existent history, such as that the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is one of the three holy places of Islam, even though only two others are actually mentioned in the Qoran. Doesn't matter, their bullshit is believed and followed everywhere anyways, especially the UN. The one that makes me laugh is that the Egyptian Mahmoud Abbas was considered the consummate Palestinian.
That is an important fact. And my guess is that there is almost no one here who knows that!
The fact is--there was never an self-ruling country called "Palestine". Palestine referred to a general area...(sort of analogous to "Southerners" or "New Englanders" in the U.S.-- neither of which have a unique ethnic, racial, religious...or even a unique national identity).
Actually... There was. Around the year 1000, there was a Christian (Crusader) "Kingdom of Palestine".
Interesting...I never knew that!
I would imagine that the people in that kingdon weren't indifenous people of the area-- but rather Europeans?
Imagine there's no heaven....
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to live or die for
And no religion, too...
Imagine all the people, living life in peace
You may say I'm a dreamer
But, I'm not the only one...
Great words y'all!
Someone ought to set them to music.
Problem is that when you think up words like that you can get yourself shot.