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Some Gazans say the protests began as a spontaneous outpouring of emotion, but there were indications on Wednesday that they were becoming more organized. Over the past two days, there has been a notable increase in calls on social media from Palestinians inside Gaza to come out into the streets and demonstrate against Hamas\u2019s rule and its conduct of the war with Israel.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, hundreds of people gathered for the second straight day in Beit Lahiya, some chanting \u201cHamas out! Hamas is terrorism!\u201d and \u201cWe want to live freely.\u201d There was another smaller protest in Gaza City, also in the north, with chants against Hamas.<\/p>\n
Videos from the Tuesday protests, verified by The New York Times, showed groups of Gazans in the half-ruined streets of Beit Lahiya. Some carried signs that opposed the continuation of the war, while others chanted slogans calling for Hamas to get out.<\/p>\n
Said Lulu, a 38-year-old from Gaza City in the north who is now sheltering in the southern city of Khan Younis, said on Wednesday that he had heard about the protest in Beit Lahiya the day before and had begun contacting other anti-Hamas political activists to call for more social-media protest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell you hundreds responded with \u2018Yes! We are joining you,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cMany of the individuals who are members of big families are joining the protests,\u201d he added. \u201cIf Hamas decides to use force against protesters, I am afraid protesters would use force back,\u201d Mr. Lulu said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cOur demands are clear: End the war at any cost,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018We want to live\u2019 is our slogan,\u201d he added. \u201cThis time is different, I believe. We have absolutely nothing to lose. We have lost everything already, so we are not afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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There have been few signs so far of any attempt by Hamas to crack down by force on the protests, as the group has done in the past.<\/p>\n
Hamas, for its part, is trying to channel Palestinian anger back in the direction of Israel. In a statement posted on its Telegram channel on Wednesday, Hamas said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel \u201cbears full responsibility for the failure\u201d of the cease-fire agreement.<\/p>\n
A senior Hamas official, Basem Naim, said in a post on social media on Wednesday that \u201call people have the right to scream in pain and raise their voices.\u201d But he warned against exploiting \u201ctragic humanitarian conditions\u201d for political agendas or to absolve \u201cthe criminal aggressor,\u201d meaning Israel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Gazans, at least publicly, tend to blame Israel for much of the death, destruction and hunger the war has brought. But at least some hold Hamas responsible, as well, for leading the attack that began the war, for holding hostages and for continuing to fight rather than giving up its power in exchange for a cease-fire.<\/p>\n
Eslam Rafat, a 21-year-old student from Beit Lahiya, said he joined the protests \u201cto call for an end to the war, and an end to the genocide in Gaza, and nothing more.\u201d He said that some of those who joined the protests were making political statements, but that they went out originally to call for an end to the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt pains me to see children lining up for several hours to get handout food that often runs out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The two-month cease-fire with Israel had brought the first sustained respite from more than a year of incessant bombardment and a ground war. Almost the entire population of Gaza \u2014 more than two million people \u2014 was displaced during the war and the Israeli offensive killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Israel abandoned the truce last week and resumed its bombardment of Gaza in an attempt to pressure Hamas to free more of the remaining hostages still held in the territory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Leaders of prominent Palestinian clans and families in southern Gaza who oppose Hamas issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on Palestinians in the territory to \u201claunch a popular uprising against injustice,\u201d and protest against Hamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cHamas must lift its hand from Gaza immediately and end this unjust blockade imposed on us due to decisions that do not represent us,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call on you all to take to the streets and make our voice heard,\u201d it added. \u201cGaza is not held hostage by anyone. Gaza will be liberated by the will of its people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Abdel Hamid Abed al-Atti, a Palestinian journalist and former radio host who fled from Beit Lahiya to Egypt during the war, called for an end to Hamas rule in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cEnough \u2014 after a year and a half of war,\u201d he said in a widely viewed video.<\/p>\n
Mr. Abed al-Atti, who said he lost many family members to Israeli attacks during the war, said Gazans were protesting out of an overwhelming sense of anger after so much loss and destruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was spontaneous,\u201d he added in a phone call. \u201cThese days, Gazans have nothing left to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amin Abed, a Palestinian activist from Gaza who spent the early part of the war in Gaza and was evacuated to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment in September last year, said the protesters\u2019 main demand was for Hamas to step down.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are exhausted,\u201d Mr. Abed told The New York Times in a phone interview on Wednesday. \u201cThey want to live in peace, safety, and stability, away from war and death. They want dignity,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis movement is proof,\u201d Mr. Abed said. \u201cIt refutes the Israeli narrative that all of Gaza is Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Munther al-Hayek, the Gaza-based spokesman for the Palestinian Fatah faction, a rival to Hamas, called on Hamas \u201cto listen to the voice of our people and withdraw from the government\u201d in Gaza. Speaking in an interview with Palestinian radio on Wednesday, he said Hamas should hand over power to the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n