Hamas blames Arab and European intelligence agencies for Gaza's "Tamarod movement"

The Hamas-led Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip has accused Arab and European intelligence agencies of being behind the formation of the so-called “Tamarod (rebellion) movement” in the territory. According to Hamas, Gaza’s Tamarod is a figment of the intelligence world’s imagination.

In an exclusive statement to Jordan’s Al-Sabeel newspaper, party spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that the Tamarod movement has been created to try to reproduce a state of chaos in Gaza. He went on to deny the group’s existence in the Strip: “There is nothing in Gaza known as the Tamarod movement.”

Abu Zuhri accused unnamed Arab and European intelligence agencies of being behind this “party”, claiming that it is a conspiracy against the Islamic Resistance Movement in Gaza. “It will only lead to failure,” he added.

As evidence, the Palestinian government in Gaza presented a video of an individual with his face covered who admitted to collaborating with Israel’s occupation forces as well as various security officials on the Tamarod plan. The intention, he said, was to cause rebellion and bloodshed. The Ministry of the Interior claimed that it has since discovered this person’s identity and placed him in custody; detailed plans for Tamarod were also obtained.

There have been calls, allegedly by the Tamarod movement, to carry out protests against the government in Gaza on Monday. To-date, such calls have met with little response from the people of the besieged enclave.

“The ‘Tamarod movement’ has postponed its protest against the government in Gaza ‘in order to prevent Palestinian bloodshed’,” said political analyst Yasser Zaatreh, “but the real reason is the lack of response by Palestinians to go onto the streets.”