Gaza City - Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday
that they would hold a "Day of Rage" in protest of Israel's plan to
annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
A joint leaflet issued by Islamic and militant groups active in
coastal enclave called on Palestinians to attend an event with the
participation of all the factions and political powers in the Gaza
Strip on July 1.
July 1 is the earliest date by which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu - under his coalition deal with former rival Benny Gantz -
may bring a proposal for annexing territory captured in the 1967
Six-Day War before parliament or his cabinet.
Talal Abu Zarifa, a senior member of the Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), told reporters a demonstration would
be held in Gaza City. A decision on whether protests would be held at
Gaza's eastern border with Israel had yet to be taken.
An Israeli announcement to annex parts of the West Bank would be "a
declaration of war," the armed wing of the radical Islamist Hamas
movement in control of the Gaza Strip warned.
"The armed Palestinian resistance considers the annexation decision a
declaration of war on our people," said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for
al-Qassam Brigades, in a video message published on social media.
The European Union and the United States designate Hamas, which is
committed to Israel's destruction, as a terrorist organization.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from more moderate
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.