Palestinians chant slogans during an anti-Hamas protest on March 26. Photo by Youssef Alzanoun / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP

What began as a set of small, organic anti-Hamas and anti-war demonstrations in Gaza’s northern town of Beit Lahia earlier this week has quickly erupted into a widespread and decentralized protest movement against Hamas and its continued rule over the 2 million Palestinians in the battered strip.

These protests, unprecedented in the 18 years in which Hamas has controlled the strip, confirm what I and numerous other Palestinians have said for a long time: The majority of Palestinians in Gaza loathe the terror group, and want to see an end to its dictatorial rule over the strip. Unfortunately, and for the longest time, it has been both easy and fashionable to dehumanize the people of Gaza and paint them all as supporters of Hamas and endorsers of its Jihadi “resistance agenda.”

The truth is: Gaza under Hamas is neither free nor democratic, and people have no real opportunity to express their views openly. That they are choosing to do so now, during a war that has unleashed one of the most destructive chapters in Palestinian history, amid harsh threats by Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups against anyone who participates in the protests, is a marvel.

The breaking point appears to have been the recent collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which lasted for 52 days. New IDF evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza — many of whom had only just returned to what remained of their homes, after months of displacement, after the ceasefire began — and the renewal of ferocious airstrikes that have killed hundreds were simply too much to bear.

What might be most important to note, here, is that the social pressure to conform and not rock the boat that can come to define societies during active warfare has eroded. Palestinians in Gaza previously risked being seen to support Israel’s war if they spoke out against Hamas. But now, crucially, they have realized that Hamas’s role is in fact inseparable from Israel’s in prolonging their misery. Yes, Israel broke the ceasefire; but Hamas has chosen, time and again, to pursue tactics that prolong the war and put civilians at risk.

I am amazed by what I see, in the strip where I was raised, and which I had to flee years ago due to threats by Hamas. The protests are everywhere: in the northern, central, and southern Gaza strip alike — even in onetime Hamas strongholds like Jabaliya and Khan Younis. People from all walks of life are participating: tribal elders, young people, middle-aged folks, and children.

Could anyone be unmoved by the images of these people, marching through the bombed-out remains of their communities and neighborhoods, surrounded by fresh reminders of a still ongoing war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and shattered countless others? “We want to live and don’t want to die,” they chanted. To the world, they cried: Save us from Hamas’s rule.

From a policy point of view, these anti-Hamas protests should give Arab countries more latitude to call on Hamas to step down and turn over control of Gaza — the only path forward that might save what can still be saved for the Palestinian people in the coastal enclave.

And Israel should realize that Palestinians in the strip truly don’t know where the remaining 59 hostages are being held, and have no real way of overthrowing the terror group with their bare hands. Instead, the people of Gaza can do what neither Israel nor any other party can, which is delegitimize Hamas, and expose the terror group to the entire world for what it is: a violent, despicable entity that doesn’t care for its people’s well-being.

But in order for this to work, the supposed “pro-Palestine movement,” which includes a whole host of academics, human rights NGOs, protesters, journalists and social media influencers, must speak up in support of the brave people in Gaza taking to the streets to make their voices heard. Too many have so far been suspiciously silent; some have even dared to suggest that the protests are an Israeli manipulation campaign to defeat their beloved “resistors.” This is unacceptable. Supporting Palestinian people means supporting them as they make autonomous decisions about the kind of future they want — one that very obviously does not include Hamas.

On the pro-Israel side, some extremists have also questioned the legitimacy of these protests, suggesting they have been staged by Hamas. To them, the timing is suspicious, as is the fact that Hamas has yet to actively, violently suppress the demonstrations. These voices will never accept that the Palestinians are nuanced people who possess divergent and diverse points of view that don’t entail perpetual war in jihad — yes, even if those people have reasonable grievances with Israeli policies and actions.

And I remember some of the same people asking, earlier in the war, why the Gazans weren’t rising up against Hamas if they hated the group so much. Yet now, when they are rising up, those actors are turning to conspiracy.

We must not surrender to any of these extremist viewpoints, and instead view this situation as rationally as possible. These anti-Hamas demonstrations are a very hopeful sign, but they will not lead to immediate changes in central issues related to Gaza’s governance and post-war stabilization and recovery. They are, instead, a critical turning point that must be capitalized upon.

Now it’s clear that large segments of Gaza’s population are against Hamas, it’s time to accept that deradicalization in Gaza is entirely possible. The population’s viewpoints and attitudes are elastic and subject to change. But for deradicalization to be actually achievable, the world must embrace Gazans as crucial contributors to the fight against Hamas and its armed resistance narrative.

Most of us can agree that no terror group must ever again be allowed to exercise the kind of large-scale manipulation and brainwashing that Hamas once did in the name of “resisting” the Israeli occupation. Now, it’s time to work for a better future with the people of Gaza, who are valiantly taking matters into their own hands, and realizing that no one will ever truly represent their needs and interests but themselves.

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