Hamas aims for big turnout in next week’s Gaza marches

A Hamas official says the group hopes to mobilize a large turnout for next week’s Gaza border protests, the apex of the terror group’s six-week effort to break through the border fence.

Ghazi Hamad says Tuesday that “there are many tools” to encourage participation, including making phone calls and offering more bus shuttles.

Weekly border protests began March 30 and are to culminate in two days of mass demonstrations next week. One, on Tuesday, marks the Palestinian “nakba,” or “catastrophe,” the Palestinian term for the expulsion and flight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 war.

Hamas has sent mixed signals about a possible border breach. Hamas says protests will continue “as a long-term strategy,” saying it is “less expensive” than going into a military confrontation with Israel.

— Agencies