Gaza demonstrations continue for 46th consecutive week

<p>By Mohamed Majed</p> <p>GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – For the 46th week in a row, Palestinians on Friday converged along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to take part in ongoing rallies against Israel’s decades-long occupation.</p> <p>In a statement, Gaza’s National Authority for Breaking the Siege urged the people of Gaza to take part in Friday’s demonstration, which was held under the banner, “We will never compromise on our freedom”.</p> <p>Since Palestinians began holding rallies along the buffer zone in March of last year, more than 250 protesters have been killed — and thousands more injured — by Israeli army gunfire.</p> <p>Demonstrators demand the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel. </p> <p>They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.</p>