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In a rare event in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, hundreds of Gazan citizens marched in the northern town of Beit Lahiya carrying white flags, calling to end the Hamas rule, and even calling to hand over the Israeli hostages.
The protests took place in front of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. One protester who filmed the events questioned where Qatari Al Jazeera and its Gaza correspondent Anas al-Sharif are, implicitly referring to the channel’s no criticism of Hamas policy.
people are demanding the press to cover these events!” he said. “People are demanding freedom, they’re demanding a halt to the hostilities against Gaza, they’re demanding peace and an end to this war.” One of them said, “The press entered the hospital so as to not document this event.”
Slogans shouted in the protest included “Out out out! Hamas out!” and “Where is the press?” and “We want to live!” Signs held by protesters included slogans such as “We refuse to be the ones who die” and “Stop the war.”
Another video showed hundreds of marchers walking in the streets of Beit Lahiya, with the cameraman saying: “Large crowds are protesting now against the rule of Hamas. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The people here are calling to free the prisoners so we can remain alive,” possibly referring to the remaining Israeli hostages.
If you directly asked Palestinians and Israelis if they want peace, the vast majority would answer either yes. The conditions of what’s considered a viable peace is different.
The two state solution was favored among Israelis during the peace process up to the second intifada. Afterwards an increasing number of Israelis rejected two states as unrealistic because they didn’t see a willing partner on the Palestinian side. Put it another way, many Israelis don’t believe a Palestinian state would actually bring peace. The withdrawal from Gaza and the continued attacks on Israel from Gaza over the last decades is seen as an example of that.
Sure, nobody likes living in a warzone. The version of peace that’s been popularised in Israel implicitly involves ethnic cleansing, though, so I’m not sure that’s worthy of any of the brownie points you’re after.