Palestinian unity rally ends in fighting

Hamas security forces on Wednesday broke up a rally held by Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip to demand an end to the conflict between Hamas and Fatah.

Witnesses said that Hamas policemen in plainclothes used clubs to disperse the activists, who chanted slogans in favor of Palestinian unity and an end to the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

They said that the Hamas policemen also detained a number of journalists and cameramen who were covering the rally.

Activists belonging to various Palestinian political groups in the Gaza Strip organized Wednesday’s rally under the motto, “April 29 Hirak Shababi (Youth Movement).”

The rally, which was licensed by Hamas authorities, was launched in Shajaiyeh neighborhood in Gaza City.

The witnesses said that shortly after the rally began, Hamas security officers took over the podium, chanting slogans in support of their movement and denouncing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

When participants tried to move the rally to a different location, they were chased by club-wielding Hamas policemen in civilian clothes, the witnesses added.

Other witnesses said that the Hamas policemen fired shots into the air to scare the activists.

The activists later distributed a leaflet entitled “Popular Petition” in which they called for an end to divisions among Palestinians.

“Gaza is suffering from several problems in wake of the absence of a real decision to end the crisis,” the leaflet read. “As Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, we seek a dignified life.”

The leaflet called for holding presidential, legislative, municipal and student council elections. It also urged Abbas to visit the Gaza Strip and assume his responsibilities as president.

The activists called on the Egyptians to permanently reopen the Rafah border 

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday Israeli reports that Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s armed wing, was alive and had returned to duty was a sign of the “failure” of Israel.

Security sources in Israel were quoted as saying that Deif, who has survived numerous assassination attempts by the IDF, most recently during Operation Protective Edge, is tying to forge closer ties between Hamas and Iran.

Speaking to reporters in Gaza City, Haniyeh said that the Israeli reports concerning Deif were an admission of Israel’s failure to assassinate him.

“These reports are proof that Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip by targeting civilians and UN facilities,” Haniyeh said.