Thousands of Palestinians started protesting Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip at the border on Friday, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanoa told Sputnik
GAZA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2019) Thousands of Palestinians started protesting Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip at the border on Friday, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanoa told Sputnik."Our nation continues its peaceful manifestations on the 42nd Friday of Great March of Return," al-Qanoa said.
According to the spokesman, the demonstrators are protesting Israeli aggression against Palestine. He added that the Palestinian nation refused to step back and "confirms its intent to break an unfair blockade."
On January 7, Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered for the allocation of Qatar's $15 million to Hamas be suspended in light of an overnight shelling attack launched on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
A series of protests named Great March of Return broke out near the Gaza border in late March 2018, leading to an escalation of tensions between Palestinians and Israel. Since then, there have been weekly rallies that are often accompanied by clashes with the Israeli Defense Forces, which have led to over 220 Palestinians, including children and media workers, being killed.
The Israeli-Palestine conflict has been ongoing for decades, and is rooted in the Israeli government refusal to recognize Palestine as an independent state in the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel has imposed an over decade-long air, land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, justifying the decision by saying it needs to protect its citizens from terrorism.
