Anti-Hamas ‘revolution’ halted after brutal crackdown
Hamas has threatened anyone who takes part in the protests - Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
Melanie Swan
Fri, June 26, 2026 at 7:23 AM EDT
Hamas launched a brutal crackdown to prevent protests calling for an end to the terror group's rule across the Gaza Strip on Friday.
After demonstrations were planned in 18 locations across the Strip, the streets were unusually empty after organisers had called on Hamas to "disarm and to transfer civil administration of Gaza to a transitional-governing authority".
Hamas gunmen were seen patrolling the Strip after several days of crackdowns leading up to the day dubbed June 26 Revolution.
Multiple arrests, beatings and death threats for those suspected of inciting or participating in protests appeared to quell the unrest.
One Palestinian in Gaza told The Telegraph: "People are afraid and exhausted. Torn between the desire for change and the risk of being accused of plotting a coup or collaborating with Israel, any popular protest movement appears to have little chance of succeeding."
Streets in areas such as Khan Younis Port, Al Qarara and Al Nasr, were eerily quiet on Friday. "People are scared," another Palestinian told The Telegraph.
In advance of the protests, a fatwa was issued by the Association of Palestinian Scholars, an influential Palestinian group, warning that demonstrators would be accused of collaboration with Israel, a crime punishable by death under Hamas rule.
Another source on the ground in Gaza told The Telegraph anonymously on Friday morning that there were Hamas supporters and troops positioned at key intersections.
The source added: "However, they are clearly avoiding any overt or formal deployment for fear of being targeted by Israel.
"What Hamas appears to be most concerned about is the possibility that armed groups could exploit the protests to expand their control over additional areas of Gaza, or that Israeli forces could use the demonstrations as an opportunity to target Hamas operatives.
"In any case, according to activists, this is precisely what they hope to avoid. Any intervention by Israeli forces or armed militias would provide Hamas with a pretext to crack down on peaceful protesters."
According to Gaza-born Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian humanitarian activist who lives in exile in the US, the Gaza hospital that became the focus of international condemnation after a deadly explosion early in the war is now being used by Hamas as a centre for interrogating, threatening and detaining opponents.
It is alleged Hamas has turned the Baptist Hospital in Gaza into its operations base - Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
He claimed friends had been summoned to Al Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, where they were questioned by Hamas security officials about suspected involvement in the demonstrations.
"They were told explicitly by al-Qassam Brigades operatives, Hamas police, and internal security officers that if they post anything supportive of the protests on Facebook or offer any help to protesters, they will be executed under 'revolutionary conditions' and treated as collaborators with Israel; no trial, no process, just immediate death," he wrote on X this week.
He alleged that some were subsequently interrogated, threatened and placed under house arrest inside the hospital itself.
He said: "That hospital is now a central hub for Hamas's intelligence, militancy, and internal repression."
An anti-Hamas protest in March last year - Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg
On Friday morning, Mr Alkhatib also claimed Hamas had deployed security forces throughout Gaza to prevent any demonstrations.
"Right this moment, across the Gaza Strip, Hamas's police, intelligence units, and al-Qassam Brigade militias are fully deployed to crush the June 26 protests," he wrote.
Last year, protesters against Hamas took to the streets for several days in a row, with the Iran-backed terror group accused of beating a man to death and leaving him on his family's doorstep in a warning against any further protests against its rule in Gaza.
Uday Al Rabbay was kidnapped shortly after taking part in the protest. His body, covered in blood, was returned to his family's home days later.
Uday Nasser Al Rabay was kidnapped shortly after taking part in a protest
Earlier this week, organisers appealed to governments, journalists and human rights organisations to monitor events closely, warning that participants had already become targets of intimidation.
"The right to peaceful assembly and political expression is a foundational civil liberty," they wrote. "The population of Gaza is entitled to exercise this right without fear of violent reprisal."
The movement accused Hamas of circulating threats through affiliated social media channels before the protests had even begun.
"These statements explicitly identify protesters and journalists as targets, indicating a coordinated effort to suppress dissent prior to its public expression," it said.
On Thursday, the Fatwa Committee of the Association of Palestinian Scholars, which operates across the Palestinian territories, sought to deter participation by issuing a religious ruling declaring the demonstrations forbidden.
The fatwa described the planned protests as "a criminal movement", accusing participants of assisting "the occupier" [Israel] and advancing objectives Israel had failed to achieve through military force.
