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

Hamas kills Jews for being Jews, and kills Palestinians for wanting to live.

Uday Al-Raba’i wanted to live, so Hamas fixed him.

This is his story.

Uday used social media to criticize Hamas and its war. In response, Hamas took him and dragged him alive through the streets tied to the back of a car.

Hamas then returned him to his family as he took his last breaths. After he died, some Gazans who were sick of Hamas chanted “Hamas, out, out!” at his funeral.

Uday’s family was livid and called for immediate retaliation against Hamas.

Below are excerpts from a graphic video shared by his family, and a link to the video can be found at this link. Warning: Viewer discretion is advised due to the gruesome nature of the video.

Uday in hiding: Farewell video shortly before his murder

Uday Al-Raba’i: “I of course am done with this war, and now Hamas is attacking us. They want me, they want to shoot me. Before they wanted me and wanted to shoot me, they came to me recently also by surprise. A short while ago, they also shot my brother, and we still do not know who shot him. Masked men came to him — I figure they’re from [Hamas’] Qassam [Brigades], God knows — they shot him, and I’ve been running away since this morning

… And here Gaza is a ghost town, and I am running away through the streets. I don’t know where to go. I don’t know what exactly they want from us, I don’t know. They’ve brought us to annihilation. They’ve brought disaster on us, and I don’t know what they want from the young people, what they want from them — they all have metal pins in their legs [are injured]. I swear to Allah, none of us knows what to do. May Allah save us, and that’s it.”

Uday’s tortured body

⁠Uday’s funeral: “Out! Out! Hamas out! Hamas out!”

⁠Uday’s family demands retaliation: “A rogue group from [Hamas’] Al-Qassam Brigades, a group of sinners, kidnapped my unjustly murdered son, Uday Al-Raba’i, under despicable and false pretexts. They dragged him and tortured him to death with everything they had, without caring about the sacred prohibitions — nor about his mother nor about the family’s feelings.

They took him treacherously, and murdered him. Therefore, they must be struck with an iron fist, these evil criminals who took this man, a Muslim, and murdered him unlawfully… Retaliation against the murderers. The only consolation will be retaliation against these evil murderers, even if it takes time. We ask Almighty Allah to inflict suffering upon them and to punish them severely … We demand that all human rights [organizations] and institutions stand in support of the residents of Gaza against [Hamas] these criminal evildoers.”

[Fatah-run Awdah TV, Telegram channel, March 30, 2025]

Itamar Marcus is the Founder an Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this story first appeared.