Hamas vows resistance in face of Israeli ‘crimes’

By Mohamed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – A leader of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Tuesday held Israel responsible for killing unarmed Palestinian protesters -- including minors -- along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.

“The Israeli occupation is fully responsible for these crimes against humanity, which include the targeting of innocent and unarmed children,” Ismail Radwan told reporters.

He went on to assert that the blood of two Palestinian children recently killed by Israeli troops near the buffer zone “had not been shed in vain”.

Last Friday, two Palestinian teens were killed -- and 17 others injured -- by Israeli troops deployed near the fraught buffer zone.

Gaza’s Health Ministry later identified the pair as Hassan Shalabi, 14, and Hamza Ashtiwi, 18.

“We will continue to wage our resistance until the longstanding goals of our people are met,” said Radwan.

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.

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.

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.