Gazans set sail to break Israeli siege

A number of Palestinian boats set sail in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday as part of protests aimed to pile pressure on Israel to end a 12-year blockade on the seaside territory.

Palestinian protesters set tyres ablaze near the strip’s maritime border in northern Gaza, prompting Israeli forces to fire tear gas canisters to disperse them, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

No injuries were reported.

More than 200 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire in anti-occupation protests in Gaza since March.

Protesters demand the right to return to their homes and villages 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 more than two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.