GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Less than a week remains before Nov. 11, the date set by the Tamarod movement for street demonstrations against Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. As that date looms closer, rumors and gossip have spread among the Gazan populace.

“We heard that bloody confrontations will take place on the streets. I expect that people will participate in the demonstrations, as the date also marks the anniversary of [late leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization] Yasser Arafat’s death,” said Mohammed, a resident of Gaza.

“I think that confrontations will occur despite the fact that I hope otherwise,” concurred "GA." She clarified that everybody was talking about orders being given for security forces to shoot at the heads and not the legs of demonstrators on Nov. 11.

“I am certain that the people who killed Yasser Arafat are the same ones who have transformed the anniversary of his passing on Nov. 11 into a day of tumult and sedition through the stupid calls of the Tamarod movement,” wrote Adham Abu Silmiyeh, a political activist with close ties to the government, on his Facebook page.