RAMALLAH: Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated on Saturday in the occupied West Bank to de­­mand the Palestinian Auth­ority lift punitive measures against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Demonstrators in Ramal­lah chanted “scrap the san­c­tions!” during protests aga­­­inst the Palestinian Autho­rity, organised by civil society groups.

The Ramallah-based ad­­mi­nistration has introduced a series of measures against Gaza over the past year.

Tens of thousands of its civil servants in the coastal enclave, separated from the West Bank by a strip of Israeli territory, have gone without full pay for months.

Critics say such moves by the PA, dominated by the Fatah movement of president Mahmud Abbas, further exacerbate the split between the two parts of the Palestinian territories.

The rally passed peacefully, unlike a protest on June 13 during which Pales­tinian security forces fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

On Saturday, policemen were seen handing out Pales­tinian flags to the protesters.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2018