Palestinians swarm Gaza-Israel buffer zone on 35th week

For the 35th consecutive Friday, thousands of Palestinian demonstrators gathered along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to take part in ongoing rallies against the Israel’s decades-long occupation.

In a statement, Gaza’s National Authority for Breaking the Siege renewed its call to the people of Gaza to take part in the ongoing protests.

In a separate statement, Hazem Qasim, a spokesman for resistance faction Hamas (which has governed the strip since 2007), said: "The Palestinian masses continue to prove their ability to defy Israel’s occupation."

"Our people’s steadfastness will lead to the achievement of our goals, not least of which is the end of the siege on Gaza," he added.

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 roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

Since the rallies began on March 30, more than 210 Palestinians have been killed -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli troops deployed along the other side of the buffer zone.