What’s happened: For a second consecutive day, thousands of Palestinians across different parts of Gaza protested against Hamas.
- In Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip there were demonstrations for the second consecutive day. The protesters chanted: “Hamas out. Hamas is terrorist.”
- In the Sajaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City, (considered a Hamas stronghold) area, hundreds of people, filled the streets and chanted: “For the sake of God—Hamas out,”
- Elsewhere, placards that were held up by the demonstrators read: “Hamas doesn’t represent us,” and “Stop the war.”
- The Israel Hayom newspaper quoted one Gazan saying, “The fear of Hamas has been broken. The residents of Gaza understand that Hamas’s ongoing rule means ongoing suffering in the Strip.”
- Yesterday, Defence Minister Katz posted a video with Arabic subtitles in which he addressed the residents of Gaza saying, “Learn from the residents of Beit Lahiya, demand Hamas’s removal from Gaza and the immediate release of all the Israeli hostages, that is the only way to stop the war.”
- Katz added, “Residents of Gaza, soon the IDF will operate powerfully in additional areas in Gaza and you will be required to evacuate the combat zones for the sake of your own protection. The plans are ready and have been approved. Hamas is endangering your lives and will make you lose your homes and increasingly more territory, which will be added to the Israeli defensive array.”
- Also yesterday rockets were fired out of Gaza in two separate incidents. In the first, a rocket landed in an orchard, just 100m away from a kindergarten full of children. Later in the day another rocket was intercepted in the Beersheva area.
- Meanwhile, the IDF have continued their air campaign, which saw Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua eliminated, according to the IDF.
- Speaking in the Knesset plenum yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu related to the breakdown of hostage deal negotiations and about the next stages of the war. Netanyahu said, “The longer Hamas persists with its refusal to release our hostages, the more powerful the steamroller we use will be. That includes seizing territory and other things that I won’t go into detail about here.”
- He added, “More and more Gazans understand that Hamas is visiting disaster upon them. That shows that our policy is working. We are determined to achieve all of the war’s objectives: to destroy Hamas’s military and political capabilities, to get back our hostages, to guarantee that Gaza won’t pose a threat to the State of Israel—and to get our residents back to their homes safely.”
Context: Israel resumed the fighting in Gaza last week after Hamas rejected US efforts to extend the ceasefire, and further exchanges aimed at releasing more of the hostages.
- The IDF surprised Hamas by launching air strikes that targeted both military commanders and civil / political leaders.
- The IDF campaign has so far included air strikes and limited ground incursions. On the ground, the IDF have retaken control of part of the Netzarim Corridor that bisects the Strip.
- The reunification of the Strip along the north-south axis was considered to have been a key achievement by Hamas during the recent ceasefire. Its recapture by the IDF is thus a significant blow.
- The IDF have also expanded their footprint in the south around Rafah (throughout the recent ceasefire the IDF remained on the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border), and in northern Gaza in areas adjacent to the Israeli border.
- This is the context of Netanyahu’s threats from the Knesset yesterday regarding taking control of more territory in Gaza. This could be used as a bargaining chip in future negotiations to secure the release of the remaining 59 hostages.
- The first anti- Hamas demonstration broke out on Tuesday following renewed Israeli calls on civilians to leave neighbourhoods from which rockets had been fired into Israel.
- The protests have been led by people affiliated with the Bidna Naish (“we want to live”) Movement, inspired by Arab Spring protestors elsewhere in the region from over a decade ago. This group has organised anti-Hamas demonstrations in the past, primarily focused on the economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
- The chants of “Hamas out. Hamas is terrorist,” are reminiscent of protesters in Cairo who chanted, “Muslim Brotherhood out. Muslim Brotherhood are terrorists.”
- Fatah and Palestinian Authority officials have also expressed support of the wave of protests.
- The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry released what it claims to be a comprehensive list – numbering 50,021 individuals – of the Palestinians who were killed or died since October 7th 2023. According to that data, combat-age males are vastly overrepresented among the casualties.
- According to the IDF, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has struck over 430 targets in Gaza over the last week.
- Israel is also simultaneously engaged militarily on other fronts:
- The IDF confirmed they carried out further air strikes in Syria, against the “remaining strategic military capabilities” at the Tadmur and T-4 bases.
- Over the past week, 18 targets in Syria have been struck.
- In addition, in response to six rockets fire from Lebanon toward the Galilee earlier this week, the IAF struck more than 40 Hezbollah terrorist targets across Lebanon.
- There have also been six interceptions of surface-to-surface missiles launched by the Houthis from Yemen. Israel has not responded, as the US are engaged in that arena.
Looking ahead: The anti-Hamas protests are expected to continue. In southern Gaza a group representing several large families has called for a “day of rage” tomorrow.
- In parallel, Israel is expected to increase the intensity of its operations in Gaza, adding more pressure on Hamas, but without expanding the IDF’s ground campaign at this point.