Palestinians have a responsibility to rise up against Hamas and to call to free the hostages and end the war in Gaza, Muhammad, a law student from Gaza City, told Jewish Insider this week. 

Muhammad, whose last name was withheld for fear of retribution, took part in demonstrations against Hamas in the last week in central Gaza, where he has lived for most of the time since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. He spoke to JI in a conversation facilitated by the New York-based Center for Peace Communications, a peacebuilding organization founded by author and Middle East analyst Joseph Braude that strives to build public support for reconciliation.

Muhammad and his parents and siblings left Gaza City, in northern Gaza, in October, following IDF instructions. They have been displaced and living in a school ever since, except for four months in which they were instructed to leave and stay in Rafah, in southern Gaza.

Muhammad said that, while Hamas has portrayed the demonstrations as planned and funded from outside of Gaza, including by the Palestinian Authority, he sees them as grassroots with participants from different parts of the population. 

The common slogans on banners and chanted by protesters are against both Hamas and the PA, which many Palestinians view as corrupt, he said.

“People are fed up with Hamas’ attempt to use their bodies, their lives, as a tool to make political and even financial gains from this war,” he said. “These protests were very openly and obviously asking Hamas to step down, get out of the political and military picture in Gaza.”

The demonstrators want the war to end instead of suffering the consequences of the Oct. 7 attack, which Muhammad called “Hamas’ plan cooked up with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.” 

“Even though it’s very risky to protest Hamas’ rule in Gaza, this is a duty and responsibility on a humanitarian and moral level for educated Gazans,” Muhammad told JI through a translator provided by Center for Peace Communications on Tuesday. “Hamas went too far in oppressing the people while not negotiating [to end the war] with good intentions. All they are doing is looking for political gains for Hamas and not humanitarian gains for Gazans … We educated people have the responsibility to inspire others to say, after 18 years of Hamas rule, ‘enough.’” 

Asked why he specified that educated people should take the lead, Muhammad said that he believed that sector of society has the capacity to do so under a Hamas dictatorship in which they are inundated by propaganda.

“Anyone with the knowledge and education, who reads and learns about politics, even religion, has the responsibility to open the eyes of the public who are sometimes moved by Hamas propaganda … I believe we have a responsibility because we know how to put the words together to describe the plight of the Gazans and talk to the media and the public, to try to bring peace and a better destiny for our people,” he said.

While Hamas has inflicted violence on the protesters, Muhammad said, “the people didn’t give up” and attacked Hamas police in return. He described an incident in which Hamas police killed a man in line to buy food for his family, and the family killed the police officer. “This is a new thing that did not happen in 18 years of Hamas rule,” Muhammad noted.

Asked about the hostages, of which 59 remain in captivity in Gaza, Muhammad said that ever since Israel tied humanitarian aid to their release, “people in Gaza who have nothing to do with politics are all asking that the hostages be able to go home in peace back to Israel.” 

“If the people themselves knew where the hostages were, they would bring them back because the entire issue is backfiring on Gazans. It didn’t help us at any point,” he said.

However, Muhammad emphasized that releasing the hostages is not enough, and Hamas must be removed from power in Gaza.

“If the war would end now but Hamas would stay in Gaza, we will see another Oct. 7 because Hamas would do it again and again,” he warned. “We are asking Hamas to send back all the hostages and get out of Gaza, because those are the Israeli demands to end the war.” 

On Oct. 7, Muhammad said that allegations that all Gazans supported Oct. 7 are false, and that “a lot of us were terrified when we saw Oct. 7 happening. The majority of us are disgusted by Hamas and are not on the side of Hamas’ terrorism.”

Muhammad said that protesters against Hamas are seeking a leader who can bring peace to Gaza, and he has heard talk about supporting former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a relatively moderate Palestinian figure who is currently a lecturer at Princeton University, and Mohammed Dahlan, an advisor to the president of the UAE who has been in exile from Gaza since attempting a coup against Hamas.

Muhammad said that “Palestinians should never try to get political gains or rights through military struggle. I don’t want to see another Oct. 7. Palestinians want to live in Gaza or the West Bank without weapons. People hate Fatah [the dominant party in the PA], Hamas and the PA.”

He expressed hope that Gaza will be able to emulate “examples of great collaboration and relations between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank that contribute to building productive relations on many levels, cultural and economic, and were able to achieve positive things. There is an opportunity for peace.” 

Muhammad called on “the Israeli right wing and the Palestinian right wing to step back and give a chance to others who are more moderate to work on peace, because it is possible.”

At the same time, Muhammad said that, given the opportunity, he would like to leave Gaza. 

Of President Donald Trump’s call to evacuate all Palestinians from Gaza, Muhammad said, “I want it to not just be an idea but a real plan that is implemented … I would be one of the very first people to leave Gaza because this is my choice.” 

Muhammad said that “Egypt has a responsibility to open the borders, just like any country would do for its neighbors suffering from a catastrophe, whether war or another kind. [The border] should be open for civilians so they can leave.”

He also said Egypt should give Palestinians the rights of refugees and basic needs while they are in transit.

“We understand Egypt is saying they are closing the borders because they think the Oslo Accords will not be implemented and the Palestinian issue will be forgotten if Gaza is emptied, but this is not a justified reason for the people presently in Gaza to be literally imprisoned. People like me who had nothing to do with Oct. 7 are being subjected to shelling and hunger, because Egypt wants to keep us with Hamas in Gaza,” he said.

Muhammad called on the U.S. and Arab countries to pressure Egypt to open its border to Gazans.

“My message for President Trump is that we have big hopes that he will work on a peaceful political solution that will push Hamas not only out of Gaza but the entire Palestinian picture, and he will work on real peace between Palestinians and Israelis,” he said.