Gazans stage mass protest against Israeli blockade

Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip: Thousands of Palestinians formed a human chain in the Gaza Strip on Monday in a peaceful protest against an Israeli blockade that has deepened hardship in the Hamas-controlled territory.

Israel had put troops on alert along the frontier and threatened to open fire if protesters tried to surge across the border. But the event, organised by Hamas Islamists and allied activists, ended without incident some two hours after it began.

Organisers had forecast some 40,000 to 50,000 participants.
They attributed the low turnout of about 4,500 to bad weather and said larger events would be held to force Israel to end what they called its imprisonment of Gaza's 1.5 million residents.