In 2019, approximately 1,000 Gazans waged street demonstrations under the banner “We Want to Live.” “Rana” was one of them. “The people wanted its voice to be heard by the government,” she explains. “But as I’m sure you saw, Hamas responded with the opposite of what we had hoped … with every kind of brutality.”

Indeed, it was reported at the time that police fired at demonstrators, stormed houses around the strip, and arrested anyone suspected of involvement. An Amnesty International official observed, “The crackdown on freedom of expression and the use of torture in Gaza has reached alarming new levels … we have seen shocking human rights violations carried out by Hamas security forces against peaceful protesters, journalists, and rights workers.”

Among the victims was Momen al-Natour, a protest organizer. Hamas stormed his house and threatened his parents, demanding his whereabouts. Both he and others arrested were “tortured, humiliated, and accused of collaborating with Israel and the PA,” al-Natour said. The violence, he added, shows that “this is a partisan police fight to protect Hamas, not the people.” Another protest leader whose family faced similar mistreatment told AP, “Hamas doesn’t want us to scream. It wants us to die in silence.”