A Gazan Explains Why Palestinians Are Risking Their Lives to Protest Hamas

Since Friday, Hamas murdered six leaders of the demonstrations against its rule. According to his family, one of the key members, Odai Nasser Saadi, was tortured for several hours before his body was dumped in front of their house. While protests, which according to some reports had drawn thousands, have petered out since the crackdown, scores of Gazans attended Saadi’s funeral procession yelling “Hamas out!” and firing guns into the air. Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian critic of Hamas living in the West, has suggested that Hamas has begun floating cease-fire proposals (involving the release of a mere five hostages) so that it can focus on suppressing internal opposition. At present, Hamas fighters have trouble operating in the open without becoming targets of the IDF. It would seem, therefore, that the protests might be aided by continued Israeli military pressure.