In a rare show of defiance, thousands of people in Gaza demonstrated against the terrorist group Hamas’s totalitarian rule, exposing the Iranian-sponsored group’s fledgling control over the territory.
On Sunday, thousands of Gazans held protests at several locations, demanding better living conditions and an end to Hamas’s rule. “Marches took place in Gaza City, the southern town of Khan Younis, and other locations, chanting “what a shame” and in one place burning the flags of the Hamas terror group, before police moved in and broke up the protests,” The Times of Israel reported.
The video footage posted by the French TV channel Euronews showed stone pelting and pitched battles between opponents and supporters of Hamas.
The demonstrators also demanded more social benefits. Hamas receives hundreds of millions of dollars from Arab and Muslim countries in the name of humanitarian and development aid. The jihadist group funnels this money into its vast network of terror tunnels and to bolster its terrorist infrastructure, often built deep inside residential areas.
“Hamas uses these tunnels as weapons caches, bunkers, command centers and a concealed transportation artery for terrorists and weapons, including rocket launchers,” an Israeli military report reveals. “Hamas exploits the Palestinian population of Gaza by building tunnels beneath densely populated areas. Many times, the tunnels’ access points are hidden between schools, mosques, hospitals and other civilian buildings,” the report added.
The Associated Press reported Sunday:
Several thousand people briefly took to the streets across the Gaza Strip on Sunday to protest chronic power outages and difficult living conditions, providing a rare public show of discontent with the territory’s Hamas government. Hamas security forces quickly dispersed the gatherings.Marches took place in Gaza City, the southern town of Khan Younis and other locations, chanting “what a shame” and in one place burning Hamas flags, before police moved in and broke up the protests.Police destroyed mobile phones of people who were filming in Khan Younis, and witnesses said there were several arrests. Dozens of young supporters and opponents of Hamas briefly faced off, throwing stones at one another.The demonstrations were organized by a grassroots online movement called “alvirus alsakher,” or “the mocking virus.” It was not immediately known who is behind the movement. (…)During the current heat wave, people have been receiving four to six hours of power a day due to heavy demand.“Where is the electricity and where is the gas?” the crowds shouted in Khan Younis. “What a shame. What a shame.”Protesters also criticized Hamas for deducting a roughly $15 fee from monthly $100 stipends given to Gaza’s poorest families by the wealthy Gulf state of Qatar.
Hamas, an offshoot of Egypt’s jihadist Muslim Brotherhood movement, has ruled Gaza since 2007 after taking power in a bloody coup and purging the territory of rival Palestinian groups. The Islamic terror group has turned Gaza into a base for launching rocket and terrorist attacks against Israel — while using its residents as human shields.
The ordinary Gazans are used as cannon fodder in jihad against Israel. Hamas and its allies Islamic terrorist groups use mosques, schools, and summer camps to recruit jihadist fighters.
The protest coincides with ongoing ‘unity talks‘ between Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)-Fatah — which controls the West Bank. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is currently hosting Palestinian Authority President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a bid to reconcile the two key rival Palestinian groups.
In recent months, there have been a few attempts to bring Palestinian terrorist groups together in order to form a unified front against Israel. Iran has been forging an axis between terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) aimed at conducting multi-front terror offensives on Israel.
(Video clip: Raw footage of the protests)
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