Hamas Says Rallies Will Continue as Death Toll Rises to 63

Head of Hamas's Political Bureau Ismail Haniyah on Tuesday said that the Palestinian people will continue the "Great Return March" rallies as Israeli armed forces have killed more people in the Gaza Strip, bringing the number of killed Palestinians to 63.

News ID: 70209

Date: 16 May 2018 - 14:33

TEHRAN (Defapress)- Haniyah in a speech during a mass demonstration near the Palestinian-Lebanese border on Tuesday evening said those who bet on breaking the will of the Palestinian people will never win.

He added that the US embassy transfer has unmasked many conspirators around, warning that "do not test the patience of the al-Qassam Brigades".

The chief stressed that the blood of martyrs in Gaza has opened a new chapter in the history of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their ongoing resistance, calling on the Palestinian Authority to officially declare the end of the Oslo Agreement.

He affirmed that the popular protests will escalate and extend to the West Bank, the diaspora and the 1948 occupied territories.

The Hamas official stated that his Movement will always be loyal to the Palestinian struggle, slamming at the same time all those who remained silent vis-à-vis the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The Hamas Movement had warned of its impatience and response over Israel’s ongoing crimes against the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially after the massacre which the Tel Aviv regime committed during the recent rallies.

“The patience of the resistance factions, spearheaded by Hamas and al-Qassam Brigades, will not be long over the occupation’s crimes against [the participants in] the March of Return,” member of Hamas’s political bureau Khalil al-Hayya told a news conference, Palinfo reported.

“The enemy and its followers should not test our patience,” Hayya added.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians launched the Great March of Return in the besieged Gaza Strip on Monday to demand their right of return to their villages and towns they were forcibly displaced.

The Gaza Health Ministry has reported that the death toll of the Palestinians matyred by Israeli fire in Gaza border clashes has risen to 63, while more than 2,700 people, including children, women and journalists, have been injured by Tel Aviv regime's forces who are positioned along the fence.

The Monday's rally also coincided with the moving of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in line with the Washinton's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December, furthering stoking tensions and angering Palestinians.

The UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein on Monday condemned reckless killing of peaceful Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces, writing in a message carried on the UN human rights Twitter account that “shocking killing of dozens, injury of hundreds by Israeli live fire in Gaza must stop now. The right to life must be respected”.

Al-Hussein also called for punishment of those behind killing of Palestinians saying that “those responsible for outrageous human rights violations must be held to account”.

The Amnesty International has also stressed that the attacks on Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Monday are “willful killings constituting war crimes".

The 46-day peaceful protests began on March 30, which coincided with the 42nd anniversary of the Land Day, which marks the day Israeli forces killed six Palestinians during protests against land confiscation in 1976. It continued until May 15, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, in which over 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes in 1948.

Since the start of the rallies, over 110 Palestinians have been killed and at least 11,000 injured along the fence in Gaza, with no reports of Israeli casualties, according to reports.

Messaeg ned/