Moumen Al-Natour is a Palestinian politician, lawyer and human rights defender.
As organizer of the We Want to Live movement – a movement based in Gaza that has opposed Hamas – his is a voice that deserves way more airplay, especially from the media.
The Jerusalem Post recently profiled him, drawing attention to a crucial Media Line interview where Al-Natour laid out a pragmatically radical vision for Gaza’s future:
Al-Natour certainly has some interesting ideas:
Al-Natour said he has been discussing a plan since January 2024 to separate Hamas fighters from civilians. He proposed checkpoints around a designated zone to screen people entering it, arguing that such a process could be more reliable than accepting a promise by Hamas to disarm.
“Because I know Hamas,” he said. “If Hamas want to disarm everything, okay, but I can’t believe Hamas. I can’t trust Hamas.”
The proposal is entwined with his hope of returning to public life in Gaza. “And if the war accepts my plan to separate between the civilians and Hamas … I want to return to my Gaza because I want to be in the government, the new government,” he said. “Because this is my city.”
But he also believes physical separation alone is insufficient. In response to a question about demilitarization and the content of school curricula, Al-Natour insisted that Gaza needs “a new school” and “a new education for the next generation.” He described an economic future tied to relations with Israel, including opportunities for Gazan workers to work and earn money there. “Without Israel, we can’t,” he said.
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“We want to rebuild our city, and we want to build our state with Israel,” he said. “We want to cooperate with Israel. In security, in civilian, in civil situation, and everything. Because, we are neighbors. Not enemies. Not enemies.”
We Want to Live has no published membership roll, but its message reaches far beyond the thousands who have taken to Gaza’s streets: recent polling shows Hamas’ support in Gaza has fallen to around one‑third, and only a minority now believe Hamas ‘won the war’ – evidence of growing disillusionment, even if organized anti‑Hamas demonstrations remain risky.
Disarming and removing Hamas is the bare minimum that needs to be done in Gaza before there is ever a chance of peace.
But Al-Natour’s words also raise another question: where are the media?
For years, news organizations have insisted that we need to “listen to Palestinian voices.” Yet here is a Palestinian from Gaza who has stood up to Hamas, wants its grip on his people broken, speaks openly about changing the education system, and envisions Gazans cooperating with Israelis as neighbors rather than enemies.
Surely that is a Palestinian voice worth hearing.
Granted, Al-Natour has received some mainstream exposure, most notably in The Washington Post in March 2025, and Le Monde in December of the same year. But other than that, not much.
Mainstream media, the ball is in your court.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
