More than 15,000 Palestinians in Gaza Strip took to the streets after Friday prayers and set fire to a number of bars, restaurants and hotels, reported Al-Jazira TV channel.
Hamas leader, Abdelaziz Rantisi told Al-Jazira that the "Palestinians burnt these liquor stores as they considered them reasons for Arab defeats."
He denied, however, that the Islamic resistance group had organized the protest, adding that it was a "spontaneous" protest.
Meanwhile, a top official from Hamas said that the "time has come" for holy war against Israel after its latest attacks on Palestinian cities, reported AFP.
"The time has come for jihad (holy war) on God's path and on the path of Jerusalem and Palestine," said Abujahad Mohammed, the number one Hamas representative in Tehran, quoted by state radio.
"The Zionist enemy has launched its barbaric attacks with US support against the Palestinian nation, and with all its forces, its helicopters and its rockets, has targeted the Palestinian people," he said, according to the agency.
He said all Arab and Islamic nations should aid the Palestinians in an uprising against Israel after the Jewish state bombarded Palestinian cities in retaliation for the mob lynching of three Israelis.
"The United States, instead of condemning the Zionist regime, calls on (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat to put aside his aggression," he said. "Who started the aggression? Why is the world community silent?"
He also called on Arab and Islamic nations to expel Israeli ambassadors in their nations, close their own embassies in the Jewish state and stop the flow of oil to nations supporting Israel, AFP added - (Several Sources)
He said the "silence" of the world in the face of the latest attacks "makes it seem as if Palestine is a country on a distant island and not part of the Islamic world." - (Several Sources)
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