When Hamas police came to cut off power to “Ahmed”’s home, his cousin, a child with Down syndrome, tried to stop them. They beat him and fired live ammunition at his house. After “Ahmed” uploaded footage of the incident to social media, the clip went viral. He spent the next three days on the run from Hamas authorities.

Hamas routinely deploys coercive tactics in an effort to silence critics. According to Palestinian polling from 2022, 62 percent of Palestinians believe “people in the Strip cannot criticize Hamas authorities without fear.” This fear is justified: a 2017 Human Rights Watch investigation concluded that “[s]ince it seized control of Gaza in June 2007… [Hamas] authorities have harassed critics and abused those in its custody.” The report noted that after one Gazan journalist asked Hamas leaders on Facebook, “Do your children sleep on the floor like ours do?”, he was arrested, charged with “misuse of technology,” and instructed by Hamas officers that “it’s forbidden to write against Hamas; we will shoot you.”