Earlier this week, it was reported that thousands of people had taken to the streets of the Gaza Strip to protest against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has governed the enclave since 2007. 

Videos circulated on both social and traditional media showing crowds of people chanting anti-Hamas slogans and calling for an end to conflict with Israel. The Israeli military campaign, launched in October 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas attack on Israel, has now killed over 50,000 Palestinian lives according to the Gaza's health ministry. The Hamas attack in 2023 resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people. 

In some cases, reports of protests were accompanied by claims of violent repercussions from Hamas militants, who allegedly assaulted demonstrators while forcibly dispersing protests. 

Other social media users have claimed that the wider international media has ignored or played down the anti-Hamas aspect of the protests. 

DW Fact check takes a closer look. 

Where exactly did Gaza protests take place?

According to concordant media reports, including from the BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Haaretz and others, multiple street protests have taken place in Gaza in recent days. 

The first protests appear to have occurred on Tuesday night in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, with the Reuters news agency able to confirm the location of at least one video using satellite imagery to identify buildings, utility masts and streets. The Associated Press  reported on at least one protest in Jabaliya on Tuesday. 

According to CNN, a message shared on social media called for nine protests on Wednesday — although the network said it wasn't able to verify the original source of the message.  British newspaper, the Guardian reported "at least one appeal to join the protest" circulating on messaging app, Telegram. 

Sascha Bruchmann, a research fellow for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, told German public broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday that he had identified "seven to eight different protests in the last 24 hours," including in Beit Lahiya, Gaza City and Khan Younis. CNN reported a demonstration in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Wednesday. 

DW has been unable to verify the precise locations as Reuters did in Beit Lahiya, but a reverse image search using screenshots taken from the videos does not reveal any instances of these videos having been uploaded before this week, which means that the videos circulating are most likely current.

Gaza: How many people took part in protests? 

The various videos posted online show hundreds of protesters, perhaps even over 1,000 in some cases.  

A CNN reporter on the ground estimated that "thousands" of people had marched through in Beit Lahiya, while AP put the figure at around 3,000. Middle East expert Bruchmann said he "wouldn't be surprised if there were 10,000 in total" across the various protests.

Were the Gaza protests anti-Hamas or anti-war?

Senior Hams official Basem Naim told the BBC and Reuters, said that "the people took to the streets calling to stop the war and end the [Israeli] aggression."

Protesters can indeed be heard chanting slogans such as "we want an end to the war" and "we want to live." Images from AFP photographers on the ground also show children holding signs reading "enough of displacement" and "stop the war." 

However, protesters can also be heard shouting "Hamas out" and "Hamas are terrorists." In Gaza City, protesters were seen holding banners reading "Hamas does not represent us," according to AP.

 

Hamas' Government Media Office in Gaza told CNN that the anti-Hamas slogans were "spontaneous" and "do not reflect the general national position." 

"It was a spontaneous rally against the war because people are tired and they have no place to go," one witness told the Reuters news agency. "Many chanted slogans against Hamas, not all people but many, saying 'out Hamas'. People are exhausted and no one should blame them,"

One protester, Beit Lahiya resident Mohammed Diab, told the BBC: "Hamas must step down and listen to the voice of the grieving." 

A second Beit Lahiya demonstrator, Abed Radwan, told AP that the protest was "against the war, against Hamas, against the Palestinian [political] factions, against Israel and the world's silence." 

A third, Saeed Kilani, told the Washington Post: "The chants of 'Hamas out' does not mean that we want to eliminate Hamas, nor that we can do so, nor that we are against Hamas," Kilani said. “Hamas exists in every family, even among those in the streets — some of whom are members of Hamas." 

Protesters in Jabaliya told AP they joined the demonstration because "everyone failed us" but later regretted participating because of pro-Israeli media coverage, which framed the protests as being explicitly opposed to Hamas. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz jumped on the topic to urge Palestinians to demand the removal of Hamas and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages. "That is the only way to stop the war," he said. 

In conclusion, it's difficult to state with certainty that the protests in Gaza this week were exclusively aimed against Hamas, nor can they be said to represent a general uprising against the group. Rather they reflect a broad range of opinions held among Palestinians in Gaza, including some explicitly anti-Hamas voices, but most of all, a feeling of desperation and war weariness after over a yearof an Israeli military campaign directed against the enclave and yet another breakdown in a ceasefire.

They also reveal the nuanced and dangerous situation in which Palestinians in Gaza find themselves.

How has Hamas responded? 

In a statement, Hamas official Naim said that "demonstrations are to be expected from people, facing extermination, against war and destruction" and insisted that "no one has the right to forbid anyone from expressing their opinion." 

On the ground, it appears that the response from Hamas and their supporters has varied from protest to protest. 

According to the BBC, "masked Hamas militants, some armed with guns and others carrying batons, intervened and forcibly dispersed the protesters [in Beit Lahiya], assaulting several of them." 

One man who took part in the protest in Beit Lahiya on Tuesday told the AFP news agency that he had seen "members of the Hamas security forces in civilian clothing breaking up the protest." 

Euronews reported having seen videos in which "Hamas supporters can be seen attempting to break up the crowds." 

One protester in Jabaliya told AP that there had been no Hamas security forces at the protest but that scuffles had broken out between supporters and opponents of the group. 

Another Jabaliya protester told CNN that activists were concerned about retribution saying, "there is fear and worry about participating in these demonstrations." 

Emad Hassan contributed to this report.

Edited by: Rachel Baig