Hundreds of Hamas officers and gunmen were deployed in various parts of the Gaza Strip ahead of the planned protests, which erupted in the late afternoon under the slogan “We want to live!”
The Hamas men, many of them in civilian clothes, blocked many squares and streets and conducted thorough searches on passersby as part of an effort to thwart the planned protests. Witnesses said the restrictions resembled a total curfew that scared off many Palestinians who were planning to participate in the protests.
A senior Hamas official in the Strip claimed that the Palestinian Authority and its security forces were behind the latest protests with the aim of removing Hamas from power. The official claimed that his group has “intelligence” that senior PA security officers in the West Bank are involved in organizing some of the protests.
Despite the restrictions and tough security measures, hundreds of Palestinians managed to organize small protests in some areas of the Gaza Strip, including the Jabalya refugee camp, where demonstrators clashed with undercover Hamas security officers. READ MORE