RAMALLAH: Between 250 and 300 Palestinians gathered in Ramallah to protest Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense offensive and show solidarity with the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Around 200 demonstrators first assembled in Yasser Arafat Square. People waved Palestinian flags and held signs denouncing Israel's military offensive. A group of women near the front of the mass chanted through a bullhorn and called for an end to Israel's 45-year military occupation of the West Bank and ongoing blockade on Gaza. “For every dead child in Gaza, the resistance will strike Tel Aviv," one man chanted. “Fatah and Hamas, the resistance is one voice," another declared to the crowd. Initially there were no overt signs of political affiliation. However, the group was soon joined by a stream of youth waving Fatah flags. A pickup truck with loudspeakers led the march, and from the truck bed several people took turns leading the chants. “A people's intifada!" one man's voice boomed repeatedly. After a march through central Ramallah, protesters reassembled in Yasser Arafat Square, where several speeches were delivered. The speakers called for unity with Gaza and between Fatah and Hamas. The final speaker closed, “Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, Al-Aqsa Brigades, Al-Quds and Al-Qassam are one voice of resistance," referring respectively to the armed wings of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas. There were, however, no PFLP or Hamas flags in the crowd. A portion of the crowd then relocated to continue the protest outside of the Ofer Israeli military prison, located in the occupied West Bank near the village of Birzeit. Saturday marks the fourth day of Israel's offensive on Gaza, which began early Wednesday evening after Israeli forces assassinated Hamas military chief Ahmad Jabari in a targeted strike and launched a full scale operation across the narrow coastal enclave, including airstrikes, tank fire, and shelling from warships in the Mediterranean Sea. Armed militias in Gaza have launched over 650 rockets into Israel since the onset of Operation Pillar of Defense, 27 of which exploded in residential zones, reports Ha'aretz. 3 Israelis died when a civilian home in southern Israel was hit on Thursday morning, and several injuries have been reported. Israeli forces have hit at least 850 sites throughout the 365 kilometer Gaza Strip since Wednesday. The total Palestinian death toll reached 39 on Saturday morning after 9 died from Israeli air raids on the Jubaliya and Al-Maghazi refugee camps, Khan Younis, Bet Lahiya, Rafah, and Gaza City. The offensive is expected to escalate and Israeli officials approved a measure to raise the cap of reservist soldiers on call to 75,000 on Friday.
