Hundreds of Palestinians marched in northern Gaza calling for an end to the war and chanting slogans such as “Hamas out”, as seen in social media posts, in a rare show of opposition to the armed group that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering the war that followed.

North Gaza is one of the most devastated areas of the Palestinian enclave. Most of the buildings in this dense area have been reduced to rubble and most of the population has been displaced many times to avoid the conflict.

“Out, out, out, Hamas go away,” protesters were chanting as seen in an X post, apparently from the Beit Lahiya area of Gaza yesterday (Tuesday).

The posted video shows people marching down a dusty street among war-damaged homes.

The posts began circulating on social media late last night. Reuters was able to confirm where the demonstration took place from buildings, utility poles and street layouts that matched satellite images in the area.

Reuters was however unable to independently calibrate the date of the video. However, several videos and photos posted on social media show protests in the area on March 25.

In other posts, one of the banners held by the crowd read “No more wars!” while protesters chanted “We don’t want war!”

Hundreds of thousands of residents who fled to southern Gaza at the start of the war, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 50,000 Palestinians, had returned to their destroyed homes in northern Gaza when the ceasefire took effect in January.

Now, Israel has issued evacuation orders in Gaza after its forces restarted the military operation on March 18, breaking a two-month ceasefire during which Hamas surrendered more hostages than the roughly 250 the group had captured during its 2023 raid.

Gunmen killed more than 1,200 people in that raid.

Since Israel resumed attacks on Gaza, claiming its goal is to completely dislocate Hamas, nearly 700 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, according to Palestinian health officials.