After a long weekend of violent demonstrations against its own rule within the beleaguered coastal strip, Hamas is planning to restart the riots against Israel on Gaza’s borders on Friday.
For Hamas, which violently repressed the protests and arrested hundreds of protestors, activists and journalists, turnout at the border will be a major political test.
The protests, which that broke out in a number of towns last Thursday and continued into Sunday, were organised by a new online group calling itself “We Want To Live.”
Despite Hamas accusations that the unrest was instigated by its rival Fatah, the activists insist that they are unaffiliated and were protesting against Hamas’s heavy taxation, the lack of employment initiatives and workers’ protection in Gaza — and not in favour of the Fatah-dominated PA.
The wave of demonstrations caught Hamas on the back foot, as its leadership hosted a high-level delegation from Egypt to discuss more frequent openings of the Rafah crossing and a long-term ceasefire with Israel.
It coincided also with the firing of two Hamas rockets towards Tel Aviv, ostensibly due to a technical malfunction or a mistake by low-level operatives. Israel responded with dozens of air strikes against Hamas targets, but further escalation was avoided when Israel and Egypt accepted Hamas’ explanation.
To help calm matters down last Friday, Hamas cancelled the weekly riots against Israel on the border. By then it had its hands full with quelling the internal disturbances.
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An image of Hamas riot police shared by a member of the Fatah Central Committee (Photo: Fatah)
Hamas sought to impose a blackout on the protests, arresting 23 journalists as well as employees of Palestinian human rights organisations. They also tried to prevent citizens making videos of the events, with Hamas security forces beating up anyone caught with a smartphone in their hands.
But enough videos were made clandestinely and the pictures spread like wildfire around the Arab world, fanned by the Palestinian Authority’s official media, which was quick to denounce Hamas.
In a successful attempt to finally end the protests, Hamas men raided dozens of homes of those identified as organisers and activists, making more arrests and beating up family members. By Monday, there were no demonstrations.
An umbrella group of human rights organisations and political movements in Gaza denounced Hamas’s repression, while underlining that the situation in Gaza was ultimately caused by the Israeli and Egyptian blockade, imposed since Hamas took over Gaza in a bloody coup in 2007.
In an attempt to divert attention elsewhere, Hamas renewed nightly riots at a number of spots near the Israeli border, where explosive charges were let off to distract Israeli soldiers and disturb residents in the kibbutzim near the fence. They also resumed launching explosive-laden balloons over the fence, something Hamas had agreed to cease months ago.
The challenge facing Hamas is that many of the activists who have taken part in the weekly Friday riots against Israel at the fence were also among the organisers of the protests against Hamas. Throughout the week, there was discussion in local Facebook groups over whether to show up this Friday, or to embarrass Hamas by staying at home.
