GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Tamarod in the Gaza Strip has become something of a hot potato, with no one wanting to get burned. In the last two months, Hamas security agencies have apprehended dozens of Fatah-affiliated political activists and journalists and charged them with belonging to the “Tamarod movement.” According to previous reports and follow-up by Al-Monitor, most of those detained have denied any affiliation with the movement.

The Palestinian Tamarod movement was formed along lines similar to those of its counterpart in Egypt, which ousted the Muslim Brotherhood regime there following mass demonstrations that began June 30. The movement in Gaza has announced that its goal was to depose the Hamas-led government, drawing criticism from other Palestinian activists in Gaza and the West Bank, as reported by Al-Monitor's Linah Alsaafin on Sept. 10.

Among those accused of belonging to Tamarod was the 30-year-old activist Iman (a pseudonym). “I am known for my activism against Gaza’s government. As such, when I heard about Tamarod, I wrote on my Facebook page that I was not affiliated with it in order to avoid being accused of being a member,” she told Al-Monitor. “Despite that, I was contacted by one of Gaza’s security agencies and told that if I belonged to the Tamarod movement, I should immediately withdraw from it.” Iman, who has been arrested and summoned numerous times during the past few years, explained that in the course of being interrogated, other activists had been asked about her.

Islam Shahwan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior and National Security in the Gaza government, announced Sept. 15 on the website of the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center that Fatah’s leadership in Gaza had disowned all calls for chaos and rebellion in Gaza. Nonetheless, the statement went on to say, “But, at the same time, we do not absolve Fatah from responsibility or the repercussions of any internal Fatah-instigated turmoil.”