Due to the staging of public prayers as protestations by thousands of Palestinians, the Hamas have in an announcement banned the outdoor prayers in Gaza. The Palestinians had sought them as the new weapon to show their defiance of the rule. A meeting between the Hamas-led governments decided on the ban mutually.
Taher al-Nunu, a cabinet spokesman said,
The government examined the troubles that took place last Friday and as a result decided to ban all gatherings organized under the guise of Friday prayers.
Terming the prayers ‘exploited to incite chaos, trouble and terrorist acts’ he said that all actions would be taken in order to ‘consolidate order and security in the Gaza Strip.’ Hamas which seized control of the land on June fifteenth for the first time witnessed such a mass protest. However, this has led to coming together of other groups such as Fatah and other Islamic groups. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group associated with Fatah has also urged every other group to continue the prayers. In a statement is quoted, ‘We call for continued prayers and we call on Islamic Jihad and all factions to face down Hamas policy against our people, which prevented Friday prayers in public places.’
Hamas have outlawed all illegal protests in an effort to continue the tyranny. Last gathering saw injuring of ten protesters, two French TV journalists when the Hamas’s self-styled police tried to break up the gatherings as directed. As per reports some 1oo people have been detained.
Source: Yahoo
Image credit: Crosscurrents
