Discussion of the 26 June Gaza protest calling for self-rule

Good luck to any Palestinians who oppose Hamas.

That is bravery.

Anti-Hamas ‘revolution’ halted after brutal crackdown

Hamas launched a brutal crackdown to prevent protests calling for an end to the terror group’s rule across the Gaza Strip on Friday.

According to Gaza-born Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian humanitarian activist who lives in exile in the US, the Gaza hospital that became the focus of international condemnation after a deadly explosion early in the war is now being used by Hamas as a centre for interrogating, threatening and detaining opponents.

He claimed friends had been summoned to Al Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, where they were questioned by Hamas security officials about suspected involvement in the demonstrations.

“They were told explicitly by al-Qassam Brigades operatives, Hamas police, and internal security officers that if they post anything supportive of the protests on Facebook or offer any help to protesters, they will be executed under ‘revolutionary conditions’ and treated as collaborators with Israel; no trial, no process, just immediate death,” he wrote on X this week.

He alleged that some were subsequently interrogated, threatened and placed under house arrest inside the hospital itself, “the same hospital that grabbed global headlines early in the war after a faulty Islamic Jihad rocket fell and caused an explosion which killed hundreds of people”.

He said: “That hospital is now a central hub for Hamas’s intelligence, militancy, and internal repression.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/26/anti-hamas-revolution-faces-brutal-crackdown/

They are incredibly brave ❤️

Agree. And also that they are incredibly brave to participate in protests.

I definitely wouldn't if I lived in Gaza as would be terrified of a fatwa against me for "participating with Israel".

I think it demonstrates the rock and the hard place the majority of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza are in and highlights the urgent need for access to international independent media and observers so there can be oversight with what is going on. Society has no doubt completely broken down with no functioning government or services and a strip still under siege. I hope it will put to bed the trope that all Palestinians support Hamas so their slaughter can be justified. I cannot imagine how desperate these people are with no one to turn to they can trust and that can advocate for them.

Earlier this week, organisers appealed to governments, journalists and human rights organisations to monitor events closely, warning that participants had already become targets of intimidation.

“The right to peaceful assembly and political expression is a foundational civil liberty,” they wrote. “The population of Gaza is entitled to exercise this right without fear of violent reprisal.”

The movement accused Hamas of circulating threats through affiliated social media channels before the protests had even begun.

“These statements explicitly identify protesters and journalists as targets, indicating a coordinated effort to suppress dissent prior to its public expression,” it said.

A fatwa has been issued by the Association of Palestinian Scholars, an influential Palestinian group, warning that anyone associated with the protests would be accused of collaboration with Israel, a crime punishable by death under Hamas rule.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/26/anti-hamas-revolution-faces-brutal-crackdown/

I thought about posting a thread about this @dairydebris but thought it would get a response like tumbleweed.

From the Times of Israel:

A resident of central Gaza who spoke with The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity over fears for his safety said he plans to participate in the Friday protest, which he learned of through social media.

“This is not something new. People protested against Hamas even before October 7,” he said. “But today the situation is different. We are living through war, destruction and displacement. Many people want to go out and say: Enough war. People see how the land [the Gaza Strip] has been destroyed after years of war — there is no life and they want to see change.”

Under a US-brokered 20-point plan to end the war which began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, Hamas is to disarm and hand over power to a transitional authority, paving the way for an Israeli military pullback and the rebuilding of the enclave, which suffered extensive destruction during the fighting.

However, those plans have yet to move beyond the initial ceasefire stage due to Hamas’s refusal to give up its weapons and other disagreements over implementation.

Though badly battered, Hamas has maintained enough strength to exercise control over the part of the Strip that the IDF has pulled back from, cementing its hold by executing opponents and others it views as threatening its rule, according to multiple reports.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-strip-stagnates-gazans-plan-first-large-anti-hamas-protest-since-ceasefire/