Hamas faces growing public dissent as Gaza war erodes support
The man in the video is beside himself, a mask of anguish radiating through his bloodied face.
“I am an academic doctor,” he says, “I had a good life, but we have a filthy [Hamas] leadership. They got used to our bloodshed, may God curse them! They are scum!”
The video – unthinkable before the Gaza war – was filmed outside a hospital, inundated with hundreds of Palestinian casualties after an Israeli operation to free hostages from central Gaza last month.
Seconds before the video ends, he turns to the crowd.
“I’m one of you,” he says, “but you are a cowardly people. We could have avoided this attack!”
The video went viral. And it’s not the only one.
Open criticism of Hamas has been growing in Gaza, both on the streets and online.
Some have publicly criticised Hamas for hiding the hostages in apartments near a busy marketplace, or for firing rockets from civilian areas.
Residents have told the BBC that swearing and cursing against the Hamas leadership is now common in the markets, and that some drivers of donkey carts have even nicknamed their animals after the Hamas leader in Gaza – Yahya Sinwar – urging the donkeys forward with shouts of “Yallah, Sinwar!”
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