Hamas Crackdown on Gaza Protests Instills Fear

The young tea and coffee vendor from northern Gaza said he was not asking for much. He just wanted to get by.

So the vendor, Amir Abu Oun, 19, joined the peaceful protests in the Jabaliya refugee camp this month against the daily hardships in the impoverished Palestinian coastal enclave.

The first day, he said, security forces from Hamas, the militant Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip, beat and punched him. The second day, he was detained and held for five days, during which he said he was slapped, beaten and deprived of food.

“Injustice will not last,” he told the security officers.

According to Mr. Abu Oun, they replied, “We will show you how injustice will last.”