Hamas has cracked down on a major protest movement in Gaza this week, involving hundreds of Palestinians demonstrating against their rule.
Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets for four consecutive days objecting to the high cost of living, recent tax rises, and corruption by Hamas authorities.
The protests were organised by journalists, academics, youth movements and several Palestinian groups, who united under the banner “We want to live”.
Demonstrations began in the cities of Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah, and spread to Jabalya, Shati, Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah, and Maghazi.
Hamas has used violence to break up and suppress the demonstrations. Hamas police armed with batons attacked demonstrators in several cities and chased protesters into their homes to arrest them. Several online videos appeared to show officers clubbing unarmed protesters.
Security forces also fired live rounds into the air to scatter the crowds.
23 Palestinian journalists have arrested by Hamas. A United Nations official strongly reprimanded the area’s rulers over the “brutal treatment” of the detainees.
According to reports, dozens of demonstrators have been arrested.
In one widely-shared video, a mother taking part in the protests rails against Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leaders, about the unemployment situation.
“Our sons and daughters have lost 12 years of their lives. For what? Each son of a Hamas official owns an apartment, a car, a Jeep, a building, while our sons have nothing at all. They keep us busy with earning bread only”.
Hamas, an Islamist terror group, has ruled over Gaza since 2007 after violently seizing control from Fatah.
