'The world has condemned Gaza to death'

Palestinians were forming a human chain the length
of the Gaza Strip on Monday in protest at a
crushing Israeli blockade.

Under a light rain, thousands of schoolchildren were
joined by adults along Salaheddin Road, the main
highway traversing the centre of the
impoverished coastal strip.

Slogans such as "The Siege of Gaza Will Only Strengthen Us",
"The World Has Condemned Gaza to Death" and "Save Gaza"
were among banners brandished by demonstrators,
who were gathering peacefully.

The Popular Committee Against the Siege, a politically
independent group headed by Jamal al-Khudari, an MP
with close links to the Hamas movement, had called for
the demonstration against the months-long siege.

"This is a peaceful and civilised act to let the people express
their rejection of the siege and of collective punishment,"
Khudari told journalists. "We are raising a cry to the
world for it to act."

Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip in June from
forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas,
backs the demonstration.

"This is a message addressed to the international
community and to the Israeli occupation, and I hope it
will seize the opportunity to lift the siege,"
Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhum said.

Hamas MP Ismail al-Ashqar warned that if this does
not happen "there will be a hurricane that will flood
the whole region."

Israel has sealed the territory to all but vital humanitarian
supplies since Hamas seized power, in a bid to put
pressure on them to end all resistance thus amounting
to collective punishment.

Huzeifa al-Masri, 14, said he and his classmates from
the northern border town of Beit Hanun had come
because "there is hardly any food, and the Israeli incursions
are frequent. We want to live in security like
the rest of the world."

Media reports said the army was prepared for any attempt
to storm the border fence around the Gaza Strip aimed at
breaking the blockade. The army and police said they had
beefed up forces in the border area.

According to Israeli army radio, Hamas may stage a
mass march on the border to protest against Israel's
closure of Gaza, where most of the 1,5 million
population depend on aid.

By late morning, demonstrators led by Hamas officials had
begun to march towards the Erez crossing point -
the major one between Gaza and Israel - but had said
nothing about what their intentions were.

Media reports said organisers were planning to place
one person every metre along the roughly 40km road
running from Rafah to Beit Hanun, for a total of around
40 000 people.

Salaheddin Road runs through the centre of the territory
and is never much closer than around three kilometres
from the border.

Reports said the Israelis' main concern was what might
happen at its northern terminus near the Erez crossing.

On January 23, Palestinian militants blasted several
holes in the border barrier between Gaza and Egypt,
sending a tide of hundreds of thousands of people streaming
into the Sinai on a mission to replenish depleted stocks.

Hamas gunmen and Egyptian troops resealed the border on February 3.