Family of slain Gazan protester blames Hamas for his death
During his funeral on Saturday, scores of people marched, echoing the protests with chants of 'Hamas out!'
The family of murdered Oday Nasser Al Rabay, 22, said that he was found dumped in front of his family home over the weekend in the Gaza Strip, after he participated in demonstrations against Hamas. According to his relatives, he was kidnapped, tortured, and then executed by members of the Islamist movement.
During his funeral on Saturday, scores of people marched, echoing the protests with chants of "Hamas out!" Since the demonstrations erupted last week, held in several locations in Gaza, this is the first murder in retaliation.
A Gazan exiled to Turkey, who relayed footage of these gatherings on social media, said he has received threats from senior Hamas officials.
Despite visual evidence and testimonials, Hamas claimed on Thursday that these protests were targeting Israel and not the terrorist group that has governed Gaza since 2007. This was echoed by the Qatari Al Jazeera, although other Arabic media outlets reported that the demonstrators were rallying against Hamas.
According to the Israeli public broadcaster Kan, some Hamas leaders expressed willingness to release a few hostages in order to obtain a truce during Eid el-Fitr, which starts Sunday evening. This desire reflects a motivation to drum up approval and suppress dissent.
Israeli operations in Gaza have limited the terrorist organization's ability to crack down on the demonstrations.