Hamas police beat, arrest protesters at Gaza rally

More than 400 protesters gathered in east Gaza neighborhood urging reconstruction and end to intra-Palestinian division.
AFP|
Police in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip beatand arrested protesters on Wednesday at a youth rally in the north of the Palestinian territory, an AFP correspondent said.
More than 400 demonstrators gathered in Saja'iya, a neighborhood in eastern Gaza City that was razed during the July-August war between Hamas and Israel, urging reconstruction and calling for an end to intra-Palestinian division.
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Protest in Gaza. (Photo: AFP)
Protest in Gaza. (Photo: AFP)
Protest in Gaza. (Photo: AFP)
(Photo: AFP)
Plainclothes police officers entered the crowd, beating a number of protesters without causing serious injury, the AFP correspondent said.
They then arrested at least seven people, according to witnesses.
The Hamas-run interior ministry said in a statement that the crowd had grown violent, forcing police to intervene "to protect the lives of those participating, after which calm prevailed".
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Destruction in Gaza. (Photo: AFP)
Destruction in Gaza. (Photo: AFP)
Destruction in Gaza. (Photo: AFP)
(צילום: APF)
The summer war left 100,000 people homeless in the coastal territory, home to 1.8 million people.
Reconstruction of homes has barely begun.
Hamas and their West Bank-based rivals Fatah have failed to implement a unity deal they signed in April last year.
The deal was meant to hand over control of Gaza to the Western-supported Palestinian Authority, which Fatah dominates.
With Hamas continuing to control Gaza, Israel has left in place its eight-year blockade, which has largely banned the import of building materials, fearing they could be used by militants to make weapons.
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