In what is being dubbed “the flood of life” movement, tens of thousands of Palestinians throughout Gaza have been demonstrating against Hamas’s regime. These protests have broken through the wall of fear and shroud of silence around the entire Gaza Strip. They are demanding the removal of Hamas, an end to the war and the freedom of Gazans from tyranny.
The demonstrations reflect the population’s complete hopelessness with Hamas’s failures and deadly rule. And there is no evidence to support claims that the demonstrations are affiliated with rival Palestinian factions like the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the Palestinian Authority administration in the West Bank or its ruling party Fatah. They have erupted entirely organically.
Hamas’s leaders were seemingly caught off guard by the protests, which have made them appear weak and not fully in control of Gaza. They were not able to register the magnitude of what was brewing. Furthermore, they have been unable to deploy the kind of massive security responses they have used towards popular demonstrations by Gazans in the past. Instead, Hamas’s leadership and mouthpieces have begun making public statements to incite violence against the protestors, accusing them of treason and branding them “Israeli agents”.
Hamas has also attempted to pretend that it understands why people are protesting, attributing their frustrations to the pressure and suffering they are experiencing, rather than actual anti-Hamas sentiments. It has said that those who chant against them are not representative of public opinion.
Needless to say, these despicable and out-of-touch statements show the real crisis Hamas faces. It will suffer a public relations nightmare if it starts punishing the tens of thousands of protestors in Gaza. It doesn’t have the mass prison infrastructure to jail a large number of opponents, and it lacks the co-ordinated manpower and command and control structures to systematically suppress large scale protests during an active war. Its only hope for containing these demonstrations is to taint them by invoking a sense of shame and fear of aiding the “enemy”.
The demonstrations reflect the population’s complete hopelessness with Hamas’s failures
It is critical that the world pay attention to Hamas’s response in the coming days and weeks, ensuring that Hamas does not engage in the brutal suppression of these voices.
The whole Arab world should make it clear that any violence against Palestinian protesters seeking political change and demanding an end to a war that Hamas started will not be tolerated, and would entail severe consequences to Hamas’s credibility, access and ability to move and operate in the region. Crucially, these protests give Arab countries significant latitude to call on Hamas to step down and leave the Gaza Strip. The protest movement demonstrates that Hamas has it lost legitimacy and credibility in Gaza and cannot afford to continue holding the people there hostage to a nefarious and failed armed resistance narrative.
Throughout the war, the people of Gaza have bravely spoken against Hamas and its deadly, tyrannical control over the Strip. Several of the brave individuals who have done so the loudest were later killed or tortured as a result. Even now, during the protests, it is apparent to the people in Gaza that those in the West are not paying attention to them; many videos have featured people crying out, demanding to know where the western media are in this critical moment.
These demonstrations are a watershed moment. Despite the moral clarity they offer, what we are seeing, especially on social media, is a polarised discourse, with each “side” sticking to their entrenched narratives and each seeking to delegitimise the protests.
Those who are supposedly “pro-Palestine” and insistent on one-dimensional thinking that sees only Israel as the problem are ignoring the actual voices of Gazans; to them, Gazans only matter when they are killed and harmed by Israel. On the other hand, many who are “pro-Israel” still doubt that the people of Gaza can demonstrate against Hamas in earnest. They insist that all Gazans support the terror group, and all Gazans somehow took part in the October 7 massacre and only oppose Hamas because it is losing. For them, nothing Palestinians ever do will humanise them. Both sides should humbly listen to the people of Gaza, who have the most skin in the game and are defying all odds to speak their mind even when it is most dangerous and risky to do so.
For far too long, there's been an inadequate and insufficient understanding of public attitudes in Gaza towards Hamas due to skewed and outright inaccurate surveys, not to mention the polarised nature of this discourse. The anti-Hamas demonstrations ought to provide the world with a more nuanced picture.
To the majority of the Palestinian people in Gaza, Hamas is synonymous with war. Its disappearance and exit from the scene would end one of the most destructive and deadly chapter in modern Palestinian history.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Race results:
1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min
2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
