Protesters in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya demand end to war, chant anti-Hamas slogans

Reuters. Palestinians in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza protested on Wednesday (March 26) to demand an end to the war with Israel, chanting “Hamas out.”

 

Northern Gaza has been one of the most devastated areas of Gaza since Israel responded to the Hamas raid on southern Israel in October 2023.

 

Most buildings in the densely populated area have been reduced to rubble and much of the population has moved several times to escape the conflict.

 

One protester, physician Mahmoud Alhaj Ahmed, said he wanted an end to the war and believes a non-partisan interim committee should be governing the strip.

 

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said people had the right to protest at the suffering inflicted by the war but he denounced what he said were “suspicious political agendas” exploiting the situation.

 

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli campaign in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.

 

It was launched after thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

 

Much of the narrow coastal enclave has been reduced to rubble, leaving hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in tents or bombed-out buildings.