Protesters gather in Bethlehem, Beirut and Amman against punitive measures on Gaza

Hundreds of protesters have gathered in Bethlehem, Beirut and Amman to call for an end to the Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’ punitive measures imposed on the besieged Gaza Strip, Safa news agency has reported.

Abbas has imposed numerous punitive measures on Gaza including salary cuts of civil servants by 50 per cent, reducing the supply of electricity and medical treatment transfers.

According to a statement published on social media, Palestinians in several European capitals and pro-Palestinian activists are planning to organise similar protests on Saturday and Sunday.

In Beirut, the protesters gathered in front of the PA embassy and chanted: “We are not Hamas, we are all the people.” They also criticised security cooperation between the PA and the Israeli occupation and the Israeli siege on Gaza.

Security services around the embassy dispersed the gathering and attacked the participants, including journalists.

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Protesters in Amman called for Abbas to repay the salaries of the PA employees in Gaza and stressed that all the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, occupied Palestine and the diaspora are the same nation and have the same fate.

The protesters in Amman also called for the Jordanian authorities to close the Israeli embassy and to expel the Israeli ambassador.

In Bethlehem Palestinians came together in the centre of the city and called for ending punitive measures, chanted pro-resistance slogans and called for ending security cooperation between the PA and Israel.

These protests came in response to calls by activists made on social media. There are plans to organise several similar protests in different European cities in the next week.