Anti-Hamas protesters march in Gaza, in rare and risky show of dissent
The demonstrations were a rare and risky public display of dissent against Hamas

A child carries a sign reading in Arabic: “The children of Palestine: We want to live”, during a rally calling for an end to the war, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2025. Hundreds of Palestinians chanted anti-Hamas slogans at a protest in northern Gaza on March 25, calling for an end to the war with Israel, witnesses said. (AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Hundreds of men shouting criticism of Hamas marched in Gaza on Tuesday, according to footage shared from the territory the terror group has long governed.
Protests took place Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the enclave, including in Khan Younis and neighborhoods of Gaza City.
The demonstrations were a rare and risky public display of dissent against Hamas, which began controlling the territory in 2006 and ousted its rivals in a brief civil war the following year. It is known to imprison and execute its critics.
Some of the demonstrators carried signs calling for an end to the war, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Some chanted anti-Hamas slogans, including saying that it is a terror group, according to footage from the scene and news reports about the protests. Some of the men carried their children.
The protests are taking place at the same time as frequent mass anti-government protests in Israel. Those protests are calling for the war to end and the hostages held by Hamas to be freed. They are also protesting the government’s efforts to fire senior officials.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Opinion Is this new documentary giving voice to American Jewish anguish — or simply stoking fear?
- 4
Opinion Mike Huckabee said there’s ‘no such thing as a Palestinian.’ It’s worth thinking about what that means
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Think every Palestinian in Gaza is Hamas? This week’s protests prove you’re wrong
-
Opinion A Palestinian Oscar-winner’s arrest shocked the world. For these Jewish activists, it was terrifyingly normal
-
Opinion In the Trump administration and Israel, a grotesque display of virility coupled with a loss of humanity
-
Fast Forward Cornell’s new Jewish president says he is ‘very comfortable with where Cornell is currently’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.