Terror group Hamas has been accused of torturing a Palestinian protester to death and leaving on his family’s doorstep as a warning against any further public actions against them. 

Uday al-Rabbay was reportedly kidnapped by the terror group amid the swell of anti-Hamas actions taken by the people of the Gaza Strip, who have in the last week been seen begging the organisation to give up control. 

Uday was later returned dead and beaten to his family’s home days after he was taken. 

Mazen Shat, a senior police officer affiliated with Fatah from Ramallah and a vocal critic of Hamas, told The Telegraph Uday had been tortured for four hours, and was left with open wounds and bruising. 

‘Uday was martyred by the criminals of Hamas. And what’s his crime? He told the truth, because he refused to be silent on injustice, because he did not kneel to Hamas.

‘Hamas is oppressing people in a brutal way. Like a puppy on a rope around his neck, they dragged him to the door of his house and told his family that this is the punishment for those who complain about Hamas.’

Last week, thousands of Palestinians marched between the wreckage of a heavily destroyed town in northern Gaza in the second day of anti-war protests, with many chanting against Hamas in a rare display of public anger against the militant group.

The protests, which centered mainly on Gaza’s north, appeared to be aimed generally against the war, with protesters calling for an end to 17 months of deadly fighting with Israel that has made life in Gaza insufferable.

Uday al-Rabbay was reportedly kidnapped by the terror group amid the swell of anti-Hamas actions taken by the people of the Gaza Strip

A Palestinian youth takes pictures with his telephone during an anti-Hamas protest, calling for an end to the war with Israel, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on March 26, 2025

Palestinians chant slogans during an anti-Hamas protest, calling for an end to the war with Israel, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on March 26, 2025

But the public calls against Hamas, which has long repressed dissent and still rules the territory months into the war with Israel, were rare.

In the town of Beit Lahiya, where a similar protest took place Tuesday, about 3,000 people demonstrated, with many chanting ‘the people want the fall of Hamas.’ In the hard-hit Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, dozens of men chanted ‘Out, out out! Hamas get out!’

‘Our children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed,’ said Abed Radwan, who said he joined the protest in Beit Lahiya ‘against the war, against Hamas, and the (Palestinian political) factions, against Israel and against the world’s silence.’

Ammar Hassan, who took part in a protest Tuesday, said it started as an anti-war protest with a few dozen people but swelled to more than 2,000, with people chanting against Hamas.

‘It’s the only party we can affect,’ he said by phone. ‘Protests won’t stop the (Israeli) occupation, but it can affect Hamas.’

The militant group has violently cracked down on previous protests. This time no outright intervention was apparent, perhaps because Hamas is keeping a lower profile since Israel resumed its war against it.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim, in a post on Facebook, wrote that people had the right to protest but that their focus should be on the ‘criminal aggressor,’ Israel.

Family elders from Beit Lahiya expressed support for the protests against Israel’s renewed offensive and its tightened blockade on all supplies into Gaza. 

Palestinians gather to protest against the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, 26 March 2025

In the town of Beit Lahiya, where a similar protest took place Tuesday, about 3,000 people demonstrated, with many chanting ‘the people want the fall of Hamas.’

Thousands of Palestinians marched between the wreckage of a heavily destroyed town in northern Gaza on Wednesday in the second day of anti-war protests

Their statement said the community fully supports armed resistance against Israel.

‘The protest was not about politics. It was about people’s lives,’ said Mohammed Abu Saker, a father of three from the nearby town of Beit Hanoun, who joined a demonstration Tuesday.

‘We want to stop the killing and displacement, no matter the price. We can’t stop Israel from killing us, but we can press Hamas to give concessions,’ he said.

A similar protest occurred in the heavily destroyed area of Jabaliya on Tuesday, according to witnesses.

One protester in Jabaliya, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said they joined the demonstration because ‘everyone failed us.’

They said they chanted against Israel, Hamas, the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and Arab mediators. 

They said there were no Hamas security forces at the protest but scuffles broke out between supporters and opponents of the group.

Later, they said they regretted participating because of Israeli media coverage, which emphasized the opposition to Hamas.

The protests erupted a week after Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a surprise wave of strikes that killed hundreds of people. 

Earlier this month, Israel halted deliveries of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns the 59 hostages it still holds – 24 of them believed to be alive. Israel is also demanding that the group give up power, disarm and send its leaders into exile.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251.