Gazans protests against Hamas; Israel considers reoccupation

Since the war in Gaza began, commentators have been concerned about the lack of a plan for the "day after". Both the costs of the conflict and the lack of an endgame have emerged more clearly over the past week.

On Sunday, Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that over 50,000 Gazans have been killed since the conflict began after the October 7 attack on Israel.

Tensions have escalated as large-scale protests against Hamas erupted in the north, marking one of the most significant public demonstrations against the group since the war's inception.

Concurrently, reports suggest Israel is preparing for a potential reoccupation of Gaza, while the US intelligence community warns of ongoing regional instability. As the conflict endures, Gaza's future remains uncertain, influenced by both internal and external forces.

Palestinians demonstrated against Hamas in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, on Tuesday, in what appeared to be the largest protest against the militant group since the beginning of the war. A video obtained by CNN showed large crowds, estimated to be in the thousands, marching through the streets of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, chanting, “For God’s sake, Hamas out,” “Hamas terrorists,” and “We want an end to the war.” Some protesters attacked the media, including Al Jazeera, accusing it of failing to cover their protest.

A resident of northern Gaza who participated in the protest told Haaretz that the demonstration began spontaneously out of what he described as a "sense of despair, due to their inability to endure the continuation of the war."

A message shared on social media appeared to call for nine anti-Hamas demonstrations across Gaza on Wednesday, with the protest organisers stating, “Our voices must reach all the spies who sold our blood.” Reports online indicate that some tribes and clans have expressed support for the protests in southern and northern Gaza, The Jerusalem Post Seth Frantzman reports.

However, it is unclear what triggered the protests. Many people seem to be angry that Hamas was unable to extend the ceasefire throughout Ramadan. The areas in northern Gaza are those where Gazans returned during the ceasefire. Many of these areas have been devastated by fighting in 2024. Clearly, the people in these regions want time to rebuild. They do not want to be evacuated again after having already been displaced multiple times in 2024, Frantzman notes.

The US intelligence community's annual 2025 report, published on Tuesday, predicts that the situation in Gaza, as well as the dynamics between Israel-Hezbollah and Israel-Iran, will remain volatile. The report warns that it anticipates "the situation in Gaza, as well as Israel-[Hezbollah] and Israel–Iran dynamics, to remain volatile," stating that Hamas will continue to pose a threat to Israel's security "even in a degraded form."

“The Israel-Hamas conflict, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, derailed the unprecedented diplomacy and cooperation generated by the Abraham Accords and the trajectory of growing stability in the Middle East,” the report reads.

Noting Hamas' high approval rating among West Bank Palestinians compared to the Palestinian Authority, the report warns that "the long-term Israeli-Palestinian relationship also hinges on the trajectory of an increasingly unstable West Bank." “The PA's weak and declining ability to provide security and other services in the West Bank, Israeli operations in the West Bank, violence from Israeli settlers and Palestinian militant groups—including Hamas—and a potential leadership transition in the PA are likely to exacerbate governance challenges in Ramallah,” it states.

The report adds that “much will also depend on how Israel deals with post-conflict Gaza and its operations in the West Bank, which may weaken or undermine the PA.”

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated threats to seize territory in the Gaza Strip if Hamas failed to release the remaining hostages. "The more Hamas continues in its refusal to release our hostages, the more powerful the repression we exert will be," Netanyahu told a parliamentary hearing, which was occasionally interrupted by shouting from opposition members.

In parallel, Israel is making plans for a potential major ground offensive in Gaza, which would involve deploying tens of thousands of troops to clear and occupy large sections of the enclave, an Israeli official and a second source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Israel has formulated a new plan to fully reoccupy the Gaza Strip, which the military has been preparing to implement, according to a Financial Times report on Monday citing Israeli officials. The plan would involve the IDF calling up several combat divisions to enter Gaza and attempt to overtake Hamas. Israel would then reoccupy the Strip, marking the first time it has had full control over the area since withdrawing in 2005. The Financial Times report emphasised that Israel’s security cabinet has not yet approved the plan, which is said to have been formulated by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir with backing from the "far-right." An individual familiar with the matter stated that Israel would take over the distribution of all humanitarian aid to Gazans.

Meanwhile, Israel’s security cabinet has approved a proposal to facilitate Palestinian emigration from Gaza, a move critics warn could amount to ethnic cleansing. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday that the security cabinet approved the proposal by Defence Minister Israel Katz to organise "a voluntary transfer for Gaza residents who express interest in moving to third countries, in accordance with Israeli and international law, and following the vision of US President Donald Trump." The decision marks a remarkable endorsement of a plan once considered a far-right fantasy—despite the prime minister’s earlier pledge not to permanently displace Gaza’s civilian population.

“The rough draft of this (new) war was prepared back in October 2024. ‘We can re-establish Netzarim; we can return home,’ National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared at a conference on rebuilding settlements in Gaza,” writes Haaretz columnist Zvi Bar’el.

"The day after? Now it is 'the day after,' and the war’s only goal is to pay the political bribe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the criminal gang that ensures his continued grip on power. They demanded it because only this would erase the 'disaster' of the 2005 pullout from Gaza, return the land thieves to the smouldering ruins of Rafah, Khan Younis, and Jabalya, and fulfil the dream of controlling the entire land of Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. There’s also a major bonus that is no less significant: this war will lay the foundations for a model of 'legitimate' population transfer that could later be replicated in the West Bank—and, eventually, even against Israel’s Arab citizens.”

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Palestinians take part in largest anti-Hamas protests in Gaza since start of war(CNN)

Protests in Gaza against Hamas face big test to see if they can sustain and grow (Seth J. Frantzman. The Jerusalem Post)

This isn't our war: Israel is waging a far-right offensive to expel Gazans(Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz)

Israel considers massive new ground offensive in Gaza as it ramps up pressure on Hamas (CNN) 

Israel approves controversial proposal to facilitate emigration of Palestinians from Gaza(CNN) 

50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. This is how it happened, day by day(Haaretz)