News / Palestine

Hamas calls for 'Day of Rage' during Peres funeral

Thursday, 29 September 2016 5:21 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 29 September 2016 6:51 AM ]

This undated photo shows Palestinians holding a protest rally against Israel in Gaza.

Hamas has called on Palestinians to hold a “Day of Rage” on Friday which will coincide with the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres.

The call is meant to mark the one-year anniversary of the beginning of what is described as the third Intifada throughout the West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds.

The uprising began in October 2015 after Israeli authorities imposed new restrictions on Palestinians’ access to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. At least 248 Palestinians and 39 Israelis have been killed in the ensuing clashes.

In early July 2014 when Peres was the president, Israel launched a 50-day offensive against Gaza in which nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, were killed.

More than 11,100 Palestinians, including nearly 3,380 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly civilians, were also injured in the invasion.

Palestinians say Peres has their blood on his hands. Like other Israeli leaders, Peres allowed Israeli settlement construction to take place in Palestinian land during his years in leadership positions.

Peres became director general of the nascent ministry of military affairs at just 29. He was also seen as a driving force in the development of the Israeli regime’s undeclared nuclear program.

This file photo shows Palestinian mourners at a funeral for victims of an Israeli airstrike on a home in Khan Younis, Gaza. (Photo by AFP)

Hamas called Peres "the last remaining Israeli official who founded the occupation."

"His death is the end of a phase in the history of this occupation and the beginning of a new phase of weakness." said Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the resistance group.

Many across the world would remember Peres as a "war criminal" especially in light of the 1996 Qana massacre. In that Israeli attack on a southern Lebanese village, at least 106 people were killed. Peres was then prime minister.

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