GAZA The demonstrations were held in major cities across the world, including Palestinain cities of Gaza and Ramallah to mark the international al-Quds day.
People from all walks of life took to the streets for the annual event which falls on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Demonstrations were also held in London and Toronto as well as in other cities worldwide, with people chanting anti-Israeli slogans and burning the occupying regime’s flags.
Organizers in Toronto said the theme of the rally was to push for “justice, peace and love” and countering Islamophobia and racism as well as opposing the “Zionism and Israeli war crimes”.
Near the Israeli fence separating Gaza from the occupied territories, Palestinians thronged the site which has become the scene of bloodshed in recent weeks.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh earlier said that Palestinian protesters will “bring down the walls” surrounding the Strip during Quds Day demonstrations on Friday.”We shall continue to knock on the doors of this huge prison, and we shall eventually bring down its walls,” Haniyeh said.
On Thursday, the Israeli military dropped flyers across Gaza warning residents to stay away from the border and not take part in the protests.The Israel Defense Forces had moved reinforcement infantry battalions to the Gaza Division ahead of the expected mass protests, Israeli media reported.
In Tehran, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani addressed worshipers at Friday prayers, during which he said the Israeli regime had realized its “shaky security” ground which has emerged as a result of “the resistance and awakening of the Palestinian people”.
“Israel is failing … the claim of creating a new regional order is a mistake they are making and it is an illusion … It is our responsibility to defend Palestinians,” Larijani added.
In a communique issued at the end of the rallies in the Iranian capital, the demonstrators renewed their call for the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli occupation as a cause of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The International Quds Day is an annual event during which demonstrators express their solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposition to the occupation of the Palestinian territories by the Zionist regime of Israel.
Protests are also sweeping social media with a hashtag “QudsDay4return” trending on twitter.
A poster put up by organizers and posted by Palestinian journalist Nasser Atta on Twitter, says that on Friday, June 8, “Palestinian factions declared a million-man march.” In Ramallah, a large billboard devoted to Quds Day has also been erected. “Palestinian disappointment with the so-called ‘Arab moderate camp’ which is now in alliance with the Trump and normalizing with Israel, are gearing up to celebrate Quds Day declared by the late Imam Khomeini,” Atta noted.
Speaking live to a rally in Gaza on the eve of Quds day a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said years of Palestinian resistance have weakened Israel and put the occupation force on the back foot, paving the way for great victories against the Tel Aviv regime.
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