The number of reported dead is approaching 40,000 and hundreds of thousands are threatened by starvation. With large parts of Gaza in ruins, 90 percent of the population has been forced to leave their homes.
In the light of the war's horrors, discontent with Hamas in besieged Gaza is growing increasingly loud.
I had a good life, but we have a disgusting leadership. They have gotten used to our bloodshed. May God damn them! They are scum!
The man in the widely spread video has his face covered in blood and uncontrollable rage in his voice. He shouts to a crowd outside a hospital that has been overwhelmed by wounded people after Israel's bloody hostage rescue in Nuseirat on June 8.
The video is one of many viral clips where the harsh rule of the Hamas leadership is openly criticized, something that was extremely rare before the war.
Civilians without protection
In social media, videos are circulating of Gazans questioning the lack of food and supplies and the fact that Hamas is firing rockets at Israel from civilian areas. After the rescue in Nuseirat, in which Hamas-controlled authorities claim that over 200 Palestinians were killed, the terrorist-stamped movement was criticized for holding hostages in multi-story buildings in densely populated areas near a market.
Every minute, people are dying. Hamas is the one that dragged us into this terrible spiral, says a Gazan to The Wall Street Journal.
People wonder what the October 7 attacks were good for. Some say it was a gift to Israel, says another to BBC.
Even internal discontent is seeping through. The October 7 attack, the spark that ignited the war, was "crazy and unplanned", says an employee within the Hamas-controlled government to BBC. Militarily, the attack was well-planned, but the home front was left behind, he says.
They didn't build shelters for the people, they didn't save enough food, fuel, and medical equipment. If my family and I survive this war, I'll leave Gaza as soon as I get the chance.
Critics silenced
Hamas has ruled Gaza with an iron fist since 2007, with religious doctrines and harsh moral decrees, especially for women. Public expressions of discontent have been rare and dissenters have been punished and silenced, according to, among others, Amnesty.
Now, more and more people dare to speak out, says activist Ameen Abed, who has been arrested several times for his criticism of the regime, to BBC.
Most people in Gaza criticize what Hamas has done, he said last week.
On Monday, Abed was attacked by a group of men with knives and batons, reports Times of Israel. He is now being treated for critical injuries at a hospital in northern Gaza.
According to the newspaper, Hamas's own security forces have opened fire on regime-critical demonstrators in Gaza at least twice in the past six months.
The Islamist movement Hamas was formed in 1987 with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as a model. The armed branch is called the Qassam Brigades.
Hamas's goal is the establishment of an Islamic state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Israel. The movement does not recognize Israel's right to exist.
In 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections over the secular al-Fatah, but no stable transfer of power was achieved. Instead, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after bloody battles, prompting Israel to impose a strict blockade on the area. Egypt has also treated Gaza restrictively since then, leading to growing isolation, economic misery, and increased extremism.
Iran, Qatar, and Turkey have been among Sunni Muslim Hamas's most important political and economic backers over the years.
Hamas is terrorist-stamped by many Western countries, including the EU.
