*A Rejoinder to +972’s Recent Article: a Thread*
An article published yesterday in +972 Magazine on the “June 26 Movement” titled “‘Freedom, dignity, and a future’: Why Gazans are planning a mass mobilization” unfortunately elides the genealogy of the movement and whitewashes its exponents, who have been advocating for violent insurrection against Gazan police and civil servants for several months.
The +972 article initially correctly observing that the “June 26 Movement” shared much with the 2019 “We Want to Live” protests, but the author ignores that the leader of the latter, the Palestinian lawyer Mahmoud al-Natour, was an advocate of the ISIS-linked Abu Shabab gang, at whose campsite he lived during 2024. Not only that, but, through Joseph Braude’s “Center for Peace Communication”—which is closely associated with the UAE and which helped create the “Jusoor News” platform—al-Natour has functioned as a media vessel to encourage Arabic and Middle Eastern countries to normalize with “Israel,” lauding the Abraham Accords. After years of advocating for anti-resistance violent actions and whitewashing the collaborator militias, Natour eventually left Gaza for Italy. Fox News, Bari Weiss’ Free Press, and Joseph Braude’s “Peaced Off” pro-normalization podcast have given him and the militias positive coverage. Figures close to Natour who are also based in Europe—and, incidentally, hold positions within Fatah and the PA leadership—now lead the “June 26 Movement,” which is the same network’s brainchild.
Contra what the author of this +972 article claims, the “June 26 Movement” was not peaceful in its conception. Its proponents, from the beginning, advocated attacking the resistance, police stations, and Hamas officials with knives and weapons. Figures like Ramzy Herzallah have close ties to Ghassan al-Dahini, who now heads the Abu Shabab Gang and formerly was an operative within Jaysh al-Islam (the self-proclaimed Al Qaeda representative in Gaza). Al-Dahini helped Herzallah leave Gaza. The “June 26 Movement” was not co-opted by such figures, as the article claims—they are interwoven into the plexus of its foundation. It is not a coincidence that Bezalel Smotrich and former Shin Bet director Avi Dichter have encouraged the “movement.”
The +972 article characterizes one of the movement’s early advocates, Amjad Abu Kush, as a “Gazan activist and vocal Hamas critic.” Kush, based in Belgium, is a much more pernicious figure. He has participated in several European cultural exchange programs that advocate for economic normalization between “Israel” and Arab countries and the widening of the Abraham Accords, such as the Arab Council for Regional Integration. It was recently revealed that Kush received funding from Zionist organizations. Kush is also a Jusoor News contributor. A Belgian investigation in December 2022 found that his own media platform that he founded in 2020 received a grant from a European organization linked to Dutch intelligence.
The article also claims that Abdul Ati, another prominent and inaugural “June 26 Movement” supporter is a mere “Hamas critic” and “activist.” Abdul Ati is based in Egypt. He frequently appears in the UAE-bolstered Jusoor News and other Zionist media, advocating for normalization. He has repeatedly called for violence against Gazan police since the beginning of his digital activism. He has gone as far as advocating for knife attacks on Hamas officials. Just a few days ago, Ati published the names of Gazan police officials, facilitating their targeting by the “Israeli” military. Abdul Ati has lionized the Abu Shabab militia using his website, “al-Muwatin,” where he presented the collaborator gangs and the “New Rafah” post as a model for post-Hamas governance and the Board of Peace “New Gaza” program.
An article published yesterday in +972 Magazine on the “June 26 Movement” titled “‘Freedom, dignity, and a future’: Why Gazans are planning a mass mobilization” unfortunately elides the genealogy of the movement and whitewashes its exponents, who have been advocating for violent insurrection against Gazan police and civil servants for several months.
The +972 article initially correctly observing that the “June 26 Movement” shared much with the 2019 “We Want to Live” protests, but the author ignores that the leader of the latter, the Palestinian lawyer Mahmoud al-Natour, was an advocate of the ISIS-linked Abu Shabab gang, at whose campsite he lived during 2024. Not only that, but, through Joseph Braude’s “Center for Peace Communication”—which is closely associated with the UAE and which helped create the “Jusoor News” platform—al-Natour has functioned as a media vessel to encourage Arabic and Middle Eastern countries to normalize with “Israel,” lauding the Abraham Accords. After years of advocating for anti-resistance violent actions and whitewashing the collaborator militias, Natour eventually left Gaza for Italy. Fox News, Bari Weiss’ Free Press, and Joseph Braude’s “Peaced Off” pro-normalization podcast have given him and the militias positive coverage. Figures close to Natour who are also based in Europe—and, incidentally, hold positions within Fatah and the PA leadership—now lead the “June 26 Movement,” which is the same network’s brainchild.
Contra what the author of this +972 article claims, the “June 26 Movement” was not peaceful in its conception. Its proponents, from the beginning, advocated attacking the resistance, police stations, and Hamas officials with knives and weapons. Figures like Ramzy Herzallah have close ties to Ghassan al-Dahini, who now heads the Abu Shabab Gang and formerly was an operative within Jaysh al-Islam (the self-proclaimed Al Qaeda representative in Gaza). Al-Dahini helped Herzallah leave Gaza. The “June 26 Movement” was not co-opted by such figures, as the article claims—they are interwoven into the plexus of its foundation. It is not a coincidence that Bezalel Smotrich and former Shin Bet director Avi Dichter have encouraged the “movement.”
The +972 article characterizes one of the movement’s early advocates, Amjad Abu Kush, as a “Gazan activist and vocal Hamas critic.” Kush, based in Belgium, is a much more pernicious figure. He has participated in several European cultural exchange programs that advocate for economic normalization between “Israel” and Arab countries and the widening of the Abraham Accords, such as the Arab Council for Regional Integration. It was recently revealed that Kush received funding from Zionist organizations. Kush is also a Jusoor News contributor. A Belgian investigation in December 2022 found that his own media platform that he founded in 2020 received a grant from a European organization linked to Dutch intelligence.
The article also claims that Abdul Ati, another prominent and inaugural “June 26 Movement” supporter is a mere “Hamas critic” and “activist.” Abdul Ati is based in Egypt. He frequently appears in the UAE-bolstered Jusoor News and other Zionist media, advocating for normalization. He has repeatedly called for violence against Gazan police since the beginning of his digital activism. He has gone as far as advocating for knife attacks on Hamas officials. Just a few days ago, Ati published the names of Gazan police officials, facilitating their targeting by the “Israeli” military. Abdul Ati has lionized the Abu Shabab militia using his website, “al-Muwatin,” where he presented the collaborator gangs and the “New Rafah” post as a model for post-Hamas governance and the Board of Peace “New Gaza” program.
The following Gazan clans, tribal bodies, mukhtars, and lijal al-Silah/reconciliation committees have denounced the "June 26 Movement": the National Gathering of Palestinian Tribes, Clans, and Families; the Qatatwa Tribe Youth Council; the al-Buheisi family; the Bakr family (through Mukhtar Abu Fadi Bakr); the Dughmush family (through Mukhtar Azmi Daghmash); the Helles family (through Mukhtar Rashad Helles); representatives of the Qatatwa tribe; Abu Ahmad al-Fajm (as a notable of the families of Khan Yunis); the mukhtars and senior notables of Gaza's families and clans collectively; and numerous local reconciliation figures (Lijan al-Islah) and tribal/community leaders acting under the umbrella of Gaza's families and clans.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ultra Palestine (2019, 16 March) ‘We Want to Live’: Details of Three Violent Days. Available at: ultrapal.ultrasawt.comحراك-بدنا-نعيش-تفاصيل-ثلاثة-أيام-عنيفة (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Independent Arabia (2019, 18 March) ‘We Want to Live’ in Gaza: How the Movement Emerged and Why Hamas Security Forces Responded with Violence. Available at: independentarabia.com/node/13221(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Quds al-Arabi (2019, 19 March) ‘We Want to Live’ Movement Continues in the Gaza Strip Despite Violent Repression. Available at: alquds.co.ukحراك-بدنا-نعيش-يتواصل-في-قطاع-غزة-رغم-ا/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al Jazeera (2019, 20 March) ‘Why Did the Movement of the Poor in Gaza Fail?’. Available at: aljazeera.net/blogs/2019/3/2…لماذا-فشل-حراك-الفقراء-في-غزة (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights (2019, 5 August) Internal Security Apparatus in Gaza Governorate Detains Lawyer Moumen al-Natour. Available at: mezan.org/post/29118(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Journalist Support Committee (2021, 24 May) Journalist Support Committee Report on the Losses Sustained by Journalists and Media Institutions During the Aggression on the Gaza Strip. Available at: journalistsupport.net/article.php?id… (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Watan (2024, 19 November) ‘The Occupation Punishes Those Who Refuse Displacement with “Massacres”’. Available at: al-watan.com/article/150239/عربي-ودولي/الاحتلال-يعاقب-رافضي-النزوح-بالمجازر (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Muwatin (2026, 6 February) ‘Yedioth Warns of “The Turning of the Gun Barrels”: Will Abu Shabab’s Militia Turn Its Weapons Against Israel?’. Available at: almwatin.comيديعوت-تحذر-من-انقلاب-الفوهات-هل-يرتد(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Abdel-Ati, A.H. (2026, 14 February) ‘Kan: Abu Shabab Militia Leader Ghassan al-Dahini Reveals...’. Telegram. Available at: t.me/s/abedalati/11… (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Muwatin (2026, 14 February) ‘Hebrew Channel: March Is the Decisive Month for Hamas’ Weapons... Rafah Is the Starting Point’. Available at: almwatin.comقناة-عبرية-مارس-شهر-الحسم-في-سلاح-حماس (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Abdel-Ati, A.H. (2026, 14 February) ‘Hebrew Channel: March Is the Decisive Month for Hamas’ Weapons... Rafah Is the Starting Point’. Telegram. Available at: t.me/s/abedalati?be… (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 22 April) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Incites Against the Restoration of the Judicial System in Gaza’. Available at: palps.net/?p=17400(Acces…: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 5 May) ‘“10 Shekels and Photograph Your Tent Clean”: The So-Called Abdel-Ati Sparks Controversy with a New Farce’. Available at: tabour5.com/10-شيكل-وصوّر-خيمتك-نظيفة-المدعو-عبد/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Muwatin (2026, 9 May) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati: The Story of a Journalist Who Faced Crises in the Field’. Available at: almwatin.comعبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-حكاية-إعلامي-واج (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 12 May) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati and the “Opening the Roads” Play: Shameful Lies Exposed by Citizens, Who Demand That He Stop His Campaigns of Theft and Exploitation’. Available at: tabour5.comعبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-ومسرحية-فتح-الشو/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 18 May) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati: A Dirty Israeli Card for Bringing Down the People of Gaza’. Available at: palps.net/?p=18256 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 4 June) ‘How the “Avichay Network” and Its Mouthpieces Are Waging a Campaign to Demonize Relief Institutions and Sever Gaza’s Lifeline’. Available at: tabour5.comكيف-تقود-شبكة-أفيخاي-وأبواقها-حرب-شيط/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 8 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati: An Extra in the “Media Prostitution” of the Avichay Network’. Available at: palps.net/?p=18762 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Ultra Palestine (2019, 16 March) ‘We Want to Live’: Details of Three Violent Days. Available at: ultrapal.ultrasawt.comحراك-بدنا-نعيش-تفاصيل-ثلاثة-أيام-عنيفة (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Independent Arabia (2019, 18 March) ‘We Want to Live’ in Gaza: How the Movement Emerged and Why Hamas Security Forces Responded with Violence. Available at: independentarabia.com/node/13221(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Quds al-Arabi (2019, 19 March) ‘We Want to Live’ Movement Continues in the Gaza Strip Despite Violent Repression. Available at: alquds.co.ukحراك-بدنا-نعيش-يتواصل-في-قطاع-غزة-رغم-ا/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al Jazeera (2019, 20 March) ‘Why Did the Movement of the Poor in Gaza Fail?’. Available at: aljazeera.net/blogs/2019/3/2…لماذا-فشل-حراك-الفقراء-في-غزة (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights (2019, 5 August) Internal Security Apparatus in Gaza Governorate Detains Lawyer Moumen al-Natour. Available at: mezan.org/post/29118(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Journalist Support Committee (2021, 24 May) Journalist Support Committee Report on the Losses Sustained by Journalists and Media Institutions During the Aggression on the Gaza Strip. Available at: journalistsupport.net/article.php?id… (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Watan (2024, 19 November) ‘The Occupation Punishes Those Who Refuse Displacement with “Massacres”’. Available at: al-watan.com/article/150239/عربي-ودولي/الاحتلال-يعاقب-رافضي-النزوح-بالمجازر (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Muwatin (2026, 6 February) ‘Yedioth Warns of “The Turning of the Gun Barrels”: Will Abu Shabab’s Militia Turn Its Weapons Against Israel?’. Available at: almwatin.comيديعوت-تحذر-من-انقلاب-الفوهات-هل-يرتد(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Abdel-Ati, A.H. (2026, 14 February) ‘Kan: Abu Shabab Militia Leader Ghassan al-Dahini Reveals...’. Telegram. Available at: t.me/s/abedalati/11… (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Muwatin (2026, 14 February) ‘Hebrew Channel: March Is the Decisive Month for Hamas’ Weapons... Rafah Is the Starting Point’. Available at: almwatin.comقناة-عبرية-مارس-شهر-الحسم-في-سلاح-حماس (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Abdel-Ati, A.H. (2026, 14 February) ‘Hebrew Channel: March Is the Decisive Month for Hamas’ Weapons... Rafah Is the Starting Point’. Telegram. Available at: t.me/s/abedalati?be… (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 22 April) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Incites Against the Restoration of the Judicial System in Gaza’. Available at: palps.net/?p=17400(Acces…: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 5 May) ‘“10 Shekels and Photograph Your Tent Clean”: The So-Called Abdel-Ati Sparks Controversy with a New Farce’. Available at: tabour5.com/10-شيكل-وصوّر-خيمتك-نظيفة-المدعو-عبد/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Al-Muwatin (2026, 9 May) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati: The Story of a Journalist Who Faced Crises in the Field’. Available at: almwatin.comعبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-حكاية-إعلامي-واج (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 12 May) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati and the “Opening the Roads” Play: Shameful Lies Exposed by Citizens, Who Demand That He Stop His Campaigns of Theft and Exploitation’. Available at: tabour5.comعبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-ومسرحية-فتح-الشو/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 18 May) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati: A Dirty Israeli Card for Bringing Down the People of Gaza’. Available at: palps.net/?p=18256 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 4 June) ‘How the “Avichay Network” and Its Mouthpieces Are Waging a Campaign to Demonize Relief Institutions and Sever Gaza’s Lifeline’. Available at: tabour5.comكيف-تقود-شبكة-أفيخاي-وأبواقها-حرب-شيط/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 8 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati: An Extra in the “Media Prostitution” of the Avichay Network’. Available at: palps.net/?p=18762 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 11 June) ‘The Helles Family Denounces Calls for Incitement and Chaos’. Available at: tabour5.comعائلة-حلس-تستنكر-دعوات-التحريض-والفوض/(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 11 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Plants Lies About Calls for Killing Among the People of Gaza, Activists Respond’. Available at: tabour5.comعبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-يدسُّ-الأكاذيب-ح/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 12 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati’s Early Retreat from the Foreign-Funded “Rodent Revolution”’. Available at: palps.net/?p=18893 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 22 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati and His Close Involvement in Implementing the Occupation’s Plans in Gaza’. Available at: palps.net/?p=8056 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 22 June) ‘Palestinian Clans and Families in Gaza Expel the Advocates of Strife and Disavow the “June 26 Movement”’. Available at: tabour5.comالعشائر-والعائلات-الفلسطينية-في-غزة-ت/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 22 June) ‘The al-Buheisi Family Rejects Calls to Demonstrate and the Fitna of the “Movement” in Gaza and Calls on Its Members Not to Be Dragged Along or Support It’. Available at: tabour5.comعائلة-البحيصي-ترفض-دعوات-التظاهر-وفتن/(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 22 June) ‘After Claiming to Withdraw, Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Continues His “Dirty” Role and the June 26 Movement’. Available at: palps.net/?p=19137 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 22 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Attacks the People of Gaza and Incites the Targeting of Those Who Reject Calls for Internal Fighting and Demonstrations’. Available at: tabour5.comعبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-يهاجم-أهل-غزة-ويح/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 23 June) ‘Bloodshed Advocate Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Calls for the Killing of Anyone Who Rejects Internal Fighting and Threatens: “I Will Publish the Names of Police Personnel”’. Available at: tabour5.comسفّاك-الدماء-عبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-يدع/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 24 June) ‘The Leaders of the Subversive Movement in Gaza Lack Both Family and Popular Cover’. Available at: palps.net/?p=19204 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 24 June) ‘Gaza Families Announce Their Rejection of Calls for Strife: “The Strip Will Not Be a Place for the Plans of the Avichay Network and Its Aides”’. Available at: tabour5.comعائلات-غزة-تعلن-موقفها-الرافض-لدعوات-ا/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 24 June) ‘Bassem Osman, the Fugitive, Attacks Gaza’s Mukhtars and Clans After They Reject Calls for the “Suspicious Movement”’. Available at: tabour5.comالهارب-باسم-عثمان-يُهاجم-مخاتير-وعشائ/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Shehada, M. (2026, 25 June) ‘Freedom, Dignity, and a Future’: Why Gazans Are Planning a Mass Mobilization. +972 Magazine. Available at: 972mag.com/gaza-june-26-p… (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 11 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Plants Lies About Calls for Killing Among the People of Gaza, Activists Respond’. Available at: tabour5.comعبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-يدسُّ-الأكاذيب-ح/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 12 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati’s Early Retreat from the Foreign-Funded “Rodent Revolution”’. Available at: palps.net/?p=18893 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 22 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati and His Close Involvement in Implementing the Occupation’s Plans in Gaza’. Available at: palps.net/?p=8056 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 22 June) ‘Palestinian Clans and Families in Gaza Expel the Advocates of Strife and Disavow the “June 26 Movement”’. Available at: tabour5.comالعشائر-والعائلات-الفلسطينية-في-غزة-ت/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 22 June) ‘The al-Buheisi Family Rejects Calls to Demonstrate and the Fitna of the “Movement” in Gaza and Calls on Its Members Not to Be Dragged Along or Support It’. Available at: tabour5.comعائلة-البحيصي-ترفض-دعوات-التظاهر-وفتن/(Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 22 June) ‘After Claiming to Withdraw, Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Continues His “Dirty” Role and the June 26 Movement’. Available at: palps.net/?p=19137 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 22 June) ‘Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Attacks the People of Gaza and Incites the Targeting of Those Who Reject Calls for Internal Fighting and Demonstrations’. Available at: tabour5.comعبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-يهاجم-أهل-غزة-ويح/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 23 June) ‘Bloodshed Advocate Abdul Hamid Abdel-Ati Calls for the Killing of Anyone Who Rejects Internal Fighting and Threatens: “I Will Publish the Names of Police Personnel”’. Available at: tabour5.comسفّاك-الدماء-عبد-الحميد-عبد-العاطي-يدع/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Palestinian Press Network (2026, 24 June) ‘The Leaders of the Subversive Movement in Gaza Lack Both Family and Popular Cover’. Available at: palps.net/?p=19204 (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 24 June) ‘Gaza Families Announce Their Rejection of Calls for Strife: “The Strip Will Not Be a Place for the Plans of the Avichay Network and Its Aides”’. Available at: tabour5.comعائلات-غزة-تعلن-موقفها-الرافض-لدعوات-ا/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Pursuing the Fifth Column (2026, 24 June) ‘Bassem Osman, the Fugitive, Attacks Gaza’s Mukhtars and Clans After They Reject Calls for the “Suspicious Movement”’. Available at: tabour5.comالهارب-باسم-عثمان-يُهاجم-مخاتير-وعشائ/ (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
Shehada, M. (2026, 25 June) ‘Freedom, Dignity, and a Future’: Why Gazans Are Planning a Mass Mobilization. +972 Magazine. Available at: 972mag.com/gaza-june-26-p… (Accessed: 25 June 2026).
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