- Author, Lucy Williamson and Rushdi Aboualouf
- Role, BBC Middle East and Gaza Correspondent
- Report by Jerusalem and Istanbul
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The man in the video is beside himself, a mask of anguish radiating across his bloodied face.
“I’m an academic doctor,” he said, “I’ve had a good life, but we have a dirty life. [Hamas] “They have become accustomed to our bloodshed, God damn them! They are scum!”
The video, unthinkable before the Gaza war, was filmed outside a hospital flooded with hundreds of wounded Palestinians after an Israeli operation to free hostages from central Gaza last month.
A few seconds before the end of the video, he turns to the crowd.
“I am one of you,” he said, “but you are a cowardly people. We could have avoided this attack!”
The video has gone viral. And it’s not the only one.
Open criticism of Hamas is growing in Gaza, both on the streets and online.
Some have publicly criticized Hamas for hiding the hostages in apartments near a busy market, or for firing rockets from civilian areas.
Residents told the BBC that swearing and insults against Hamas leaders are now commonplace in markets, and some donkey cart drivers have even nicknamed their animals after Hamas’s leader in Gaza – Yahya Sinwar – urging the donkeys to move forward by shouting “Yallah, Sinwar!”
“People say things like ‘Hamas destroyed us’ or even ask God to take their lives,” one man said.
“They wonder what the October 7 attacks were for. Some say they were a gift to Israel.”
Some are even urging their leaders to accept a ceasefire with Israel.
There are still people in Gaza who are fiercely loyal to Hamas, and after years of repressive control it is difficult to know to what extent the group is losing support, or to what extent current opponents feel more able to speak out.
But a senior Hamas official privately acknowledged to the BBC several months ago that the group was losing support because of the war.
And even some of the group’s employees are hesitant.
A senior Hamas government official told the BBC that Hamas’ attacks were “a crazy and uncalculated leap”.
He asked that we conceal his identity.
“I know from my work with the Hamas government that it prepared well militarily for the attack, but neglected the domestic front,” he said.
“They didn’t build safe shelters for people, they didn’t put enough food, fuel and medical supplies in. If my family and I survive this war, I will leave Gaza as soon as I have the chance.”
Opposition to Hamas existed well before the war, although much of it remained hidden for fear of reprisals.
In the last Palestinian elections in 2006, Gazans voted for Hamas in 15 of the territory’s 24 seats using party-list voting – in the other nine districts, voters chose another party.
A year later, Hamas violently expelled Palestinian Authority forces from Gaza, sparking a bitter split with the rival Fatah movement, and took control of the entire Gaza Strip.
Ameen Abed, a political activist, said he had been arrested numerous times for criticizing Hamas before the war, but nine months later dissent was becoming more common in the country.
“In Gaza, most people are critical of what Hamas has done,” he said.
“They see children living in tents and insulting their leaders has become routine. But this practice enjoys broad support among those who live outside the Gaza border, sitting under air conditioners in their comfortable homes, who have not lost a child, a home, a future, a leg.”
Despair and war are eroding social structures in Gaza, and Hamas’ control is no longer what it used to be.
Four-fifths of Gaza’s population is displaced, often moving from one temporary shelter to another.
Public order has broken down in some places, partly because of Israeli policies targeting Gaza’s security forces – not just Hamas’s official internal security services, but also the community police responsible for street crime.
As control weakened, criminal gangs flourished, raiding neighborhoods and aid convoys; and private security companies – some run by powerful local families – sprang up.
A staff member of a humanitarian organization operating in Gaza described “absolute chaos on the streets” and “a state of anarchy,” saying that civil order had completely collapsed due to Israeli policies.
The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly vowed to continue the war until Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities are destroyed.
But some aid agencies – in both northern and southern Gaza – have also reported regular checks on their activities by local Hamas officials, and videos frequently circulate showing unofficial Hamas security forces shooting and beating those caught looting.
A well-placed source told the BBC that dozens of people had been killed by Hamas in bloody clashes with other local groups after Israeli troops withdrew from one area.
Fear of criticizing Gaza’s leaders may have diminished, but it has not disappeared, and so it remains difficult to accurately assess, beyond individual testimonies, the extent to which support for the group is changing.
Some, like Jihad Talab, 26, still staunchly support Hamas.
Displaced from the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City with his wife, daughter and mother, and now housed in Deir al-Balah, he said the group was not responsible for their suffering.
“We must support [Hamas] “Because it is the one who works on the ground, the one who understands the battle – not you or me,” he said. “Empty accusations only serve the occupation.” [Israel]. We will support him until our last breath.
A regular poll by a West Bank-based think tank, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, says most Gazans continue to blame Israel and its allies for the war, rather than Hamas.
The latest poll, conducted in June, found that nearly two-thirds of Gazans surveyed were satisfied with Hamas – a 12-point increase from December – and suggested that only about half would still prefer Hamas to rule Gaza after the war ends, rather than any other option.
The prying eyes on the situation around Gaza do not allow for a clear picture of the situation. Israel and Egypt prohibit international journalists from reporting on the situation on the ground.
What is clear is that Hamas remains very sensitive to public opinion.
Strikingly similar messages regularly appear on some social media platforms to justify their actions, often apparently in response to criticism at home.
A source close to Hamas told the BBC that there was an organised international network to coordinate the group’s messages on social media.
After Israeli families released a video showing the moment female soldiers were abducted by Hamas units on October 7, some in Gaza questioned whether targeting women during war is consistent with Islamic teachings.
In response, several pro-Hamas social media accounts posted similar messages insisting that the soldiers – male or female – were legitimate military targets, and claiming that the unit had been involved in shooting at Gaza protesters during demonstrations six years ago.
Criticism of Hamas is growing louder and long-suppressed divisions over Hamas’s rule in Gaza are becoming evident.
From the destruction wrought by Israel’s battle against Hamas, a new war is emerging: a battle for control of public opinion inside Gaza itself.