Hamas, recognized by Canada as a terrorist group, has controlled Gaza since 2007 with devastating economic consequences for the enclave’s two million people

The Gaza Strip has been roiled by protests against the enclave’s high cost of living, as the population is driven to a breaking point by 12 years of Hamas’ authoritarian rule.

Hamas, recognized by Canada as a terrorist group, has controlled Gaza since 2007 with devastating economic consequences for the enclave’s two million people. Now the group is accused of violently cracking down on Palestinian demonstrators and journalists rallying against the disaster.

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“I condemn the Hamas violence in Gaza against protesters, women, children; journalists & human rights activists,” read a Sunday statement by Nickolay E. Mladenov, the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

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The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, a group that normally condemns Israeli actions against Palestinians, similarly criticized the crackdowns, saying that peaceful demonstrators were being arrested in their homes merely for protesting the “high cost of living.”

Unlike the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank and opposes Hamas ruled in Gaza, Hamas remains devoted to the destruction of Israel and its replacement with an Islamic theocratic state. This, along with Hamas’ open and sustained backing of terrorist activity, has kept Gaza within a strict blockade maintained by both its Israeli and Egyptian neighbours.

After 12 years, the end result has been a youth unemployment rate of more than 70 per cent. A recent World Bank report said the enclave’s economy is in “free fall.”

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Under the slogan “We Want to Live,” the protests are the biggest challenge to Hamas’ rule since 2007.

“We’re not political and we don’t want to change political systems. We just want to get our rights,” one of the organizers, Moumen al-Natour, said in a Facebook post, according to BBC

In a widely circulated video reportedly taken from the centre of one of the Gaza protests, a Palestinian mother can be heard complaining that her children have “lost 12 years of their lives.”

“My sons aren’t working, my husband’s not working, the entire country’s not working!” she said. “A son of a Hamas official is 20 years old and owns an apartment, a car, a jeep, a building … while our sons have nothing at all.”

The protests have been met by swift crackdowns from Hamas officials, with videos posted to social media showing Palestinian security forces using tear gas, beating protesters and raiding homes.

“Civilians affiliated with Hamas crept among the protestors and started attacking them and raising posters of (Palestinian Authority President) Mahmoud Abbas written on them ‘Abbas, Leave’ in attempts to cause confusion,” reads a report by the International Middle East Media Centre

Abbas, a stated enemy of Hamas, has been blamed by Hamas officials for inciting the protests.

The Palestinian Authority, in turn, has called out the protests as symbols of the failure of Hamas rule.

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“Hamas must listen to the voice of the people,” Palestinian Authority justice minister Ali Abu Diak was quoted as saying by the Jerusalem Post . “It must stop its policy of strangulation, oppression and abuse against our people in the Gaza Strip.”

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Seven Palestinian journalists remain in Hamas custody, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate. Of 10 additional journalists who were arrested and then released, the syndicate told the Times of Israel that four required hospitalization.

An analysis by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, a think tank with close ties to the Israeli military, documented instances of Hamas-affiliated security forces using gunfire to break up the protests, as well as marshalling its own protests to “deflect attention.”

“Because of the extreme economic difficulties and the general insecurity, the events are liable to grow in scope and spin out of control,” wrote the centre.

Hamas made no reference to the protests on its official webpage, but in an English-language statement on Sunday the group said that “humanitarian demands” and “rights” remained one of its top priorities.

Last week, two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip struck near Tel Aviv, prompting retaliatory air strikes against targets linked to Hamas. However, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based rocket builder, soon issued statements denying responsibility for the launches and claiming not to want escalation with Israel.