By Moustafa Maged Haboosh and Gulsen Topcu
GAZA (AA) – Calm can be restored in the blockaded Gaza Strip only after stopping the Israeli attacks against Palestinian protestors, Hamas leader said late Sunday.
“We stress that the more atrocious the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian civilians are, the stronger the Palestinian response will be, ” Ismail Haniyeh said in a written statement.
“Hamas stresses that calm can be restored only after stopping the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and implementing the ceasefire understandings by the Israeli occupation, ” Haniyeh added.
“The Palestinian people besieged in the Gaza Strip for more than 12 years demand their basic rights only, as per all international laws and conventions, ” according to the statement.
Since Saturday, 25 Palestinians, including two pregnant women and two infants, were martyred and more than 100 others wounded by Israeli air strikes.
The escalation in the Gaza Strip started when four Palestinians were martyred, including a teenager, and 51 wounded on Friday in Israeli army attacks on Hamas-affiliated sites and a separate attack on a rally against the decade-long occupation and siege of the Gaza strip.
The Israeli assaults were met by Palestinian resistance factions launching 600 rockets towards Israeli settlements, killing three people, according to Israeli figures.
