Palestinians protest to demand an end to war, chanting anti-Hamas slogans, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, March 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

Anti-Hamas protests erupted in the Gaza Strip for a third straight day on Wednesday, after indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group in Qatar failed to yield any breakthroughs.

Since Monday, hundreds of protesters in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis have taken to the streets to rally against Hamas, which has ruled the war-torn Palestinian enclave for nearly two decades, and to call for an end to the war with Israel, as captured in footage shared by local news outlets and widely circulated on social media.

According to local reports, protests spread across multiple neighborhoods in Khan Younis, with many demonstrators demanding that Hamas give up control of Gaza.

Anti-Hamas protests in Gaza continue for the third day in a row, and their chants remain unchanged: “All Hamas out, out.”

Stand with these brave people. Don’t abandon them. Be their voices—the voices the world needs to hear. pic.twitter.com/fRFw40t1YD

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) May 21, 2025

Protesters had similarly gathered in Khan Younis, a long-time Hamas stronghold, on Monday and Tuesday demanding, “All of Hamas, out!”

INCREDIBLE: For the second day in a row, massive anti-Hamas protests continue in Khan Yunis, Gaza.

Preparations are underway in Gaza for what is expected to be the largest anti-Hamas protest across the entire Strip.

DOWN WITH HAMAS! pic.twitter.com/oUfNit2HjO

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) May 20, 2025

This week’s protests against the terrorist group in Gaza are the first in several weeks, coming after a series of demonstrations in northern parts of the Strip in March and April.

During the first wave of protests in the early spring, thousands of Palestinians across the enclave took to the streets to protest against Hamas, calling for an end to the war and condemning the terrorist group’s rule.

Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group and offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, violently eliminated its Palestinian opposition in a brief conflict in 2007, taking full control of Gaza after winning legislative elections the prior year.

In footage circulated on social media, demonstrators were seen in the first round of demonstrations chanting slogans such as “Down with Hamas, we’ve had enough,” “For God’s sake, Hamas out,” “We want an end to the war,” and “Hamas terrorists.”

🚨BREAKING: Anti-Hamas protests have erupted again today in Khan Yunis, Gaza, with crowds chanting “We want to live” in rejection of Hamas’ strategy to sacrifice them all. pic.twitter.com/WGmNuGlBoQ

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) May 20, 2025

At the time, several prominent activists and social media influencers had gone missing, with local reports indicating that some were being tortured and killed.

The Palestinian terrorist group accused Israel of inciting the demonstrations and warned of punishment for those involved.

According to local reports, Hamas had been persecuting Palestinians who participated in such protests, executing six individuals and publicly beating others.

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) released a poll earlier this month showing that nearly half of Gazans support the anti-Hamas protests.

The terrorist group has a history of violently attacking those it considers to be “collaborators” with Israel. Earlier this year, the terrorist group executed 11 people for allegedly doing so in what its aligned media termed a “punishment of bullets.”

مسيرات ضخمة تخرج الان في كافة مناطق وشوارع خانيونس جنوب قطاع غزة تطالب بايقاف الحرب بشكل فوري وباي ثمن #اوقفوا_الحرب pic.twitter.com/sWWCuXWh9l

— زاهر ابو حسين (@ZAHERABUHUSIEN) May 19, 2025

While Hamas is trying to silence dissent and crack down on the demonstrations, the group is also confronting Israel’s renewed operations as the Israeli military targets terrorist operatives in the territory.

Earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a wide evacuation order for all of Khan Younis, declaring the area a “combat zone” ahead of what it called an “unprecedented attack” aimed at dismantling terrorist infrastructure and pressuring Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages still being held by the Islamist group.

As part of its ongoing ground offensive dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” Israel’s military has struck over 670 Hamas targets in Gaza over the past week.

Tensions on the ground intensified after ceasefire negotiations between the Jewish state and the Palestinian terrorist group in Qatar stalled without yielding any progress.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the recent talks in Doha covered a potential truce and hostage exchange, along with a proposal to end the war in exchange for the exile of Hamas terrorists and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip — terms that Hamas has previously rejected.

The latest PCPSR poll from earlier this month found that the perception that Hamas would win the war has dropped precipitously since it began. Just 23 percent of Gazans said they think Hamas will win the current war, while 29 percent responded they think Israel will win, and 46 percent put neither side will win. In contrast, 50 percent of Gazans thought Hamas would win back in December 2023, while 31 percent thought Israel would win.