Hundreds joined by Hamas leader at protest on Gaza-Israel border
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Around 1,000 Palestinians protested on the Gaza border with Israel on the first Friday of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, four days after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians.
The leader of Gaza’s ruling movement Hamas attended the fresh protest, taking part in prayers along the border before sunset and then participating in a demonstration.
Ismail Haniya gave the V-forvictory salute and waved the Palestinian flag a few hundred metres from the fence along the border with Israel, an AFP journalist reported.
The Israeli army said around 1,000 ‘rioters’ gathered in five spots along the border.
The latest protests came after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians along the border on Monday in a demonstration that coincided with the transfer of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The border has been a flashpoint for deadly demonstrations that began on March 30, with some protesters attempting to breach the fence as part of demands that Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their homes now inside Israel.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced late Thursday at the start of Ramadan that his country’s border with Gaza would be open throughout the holy month of fasting to ‘alleviate the suffering’ of Gazans.
Palestinian media have speculated a deal has been struck for Egypt, which has a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, to open the border in exchange for Hamas ending the protests.
Haniya welcomed Sisi’s decision but denied any such agreement.
“There is a rumour that Hamas made a deal with Egypt to end the marches. This is baseless,” he said.