Hamas supporters burn pictures of U.S. President Donald Trump and and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against the United Arab Emirates' deal with Israel, at the main market of Jebaliya refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday rallied against the US-brokered deal to normalise ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Protesters burned Israeli and American flags, trampled on posters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, and chanted “normalisation is betrayal to Jerusalem and Palestine.”
Unlike Palestinian protesters last Friday near the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City who also burned posters of the Emirati crown prince, the Gaza demonstrators stopped short of burning symbols of the UAE, apparently not to antagonise the Gulf Arab country, where tens of thousands of Palestinians work and live.
The demonstrators in Gaza City also voiced support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for his rejection of President Donald Trump’s Mideast plan, which the Palestinians say unfairly favours Israel.
The protest was organised by the militant Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip, and other factions.
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, denounced the Israeli-Emirati deal. “Normalisation with the occupation harms us and doesn’t serve us,” he said. “Instead, it serves and promotes the occupation in its projects that target Palestine and the region.”