GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas security forces broke up a protest in the northern Gaza Strip Thursday, an AFP photographer and witnesses said, as thousands took to the streets over an ongoing electricity crisis.
The demonstrators gathered in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza for a march, with attendees carrying signs and chanting slogans including “We want electricity.”
They headed to the headquarters of the state-run electricity company in northern Gaza, but Hamas security forces fired live ammunition in the air and dispersed them with batons, said an AFP photographer who was injured in the head.
A number of marchers threw stones at the building, he added.
Iyad Al-Bozum, a spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry, told AFP the march spilt onto the street of the camp “naturally” but that security forces stepped in when “rioting” started.
Gaza has seen near daily protests in recent days over power shortages.
The more than two millions residents of Gaza have been receiving just four hours a day of electricity since the end of last year, as opposed to normal alternating eight-hour cycles.
The Islamist Hamas has controlled the tiny Palestinian strip, sandwiched between Israel and Egypt, since 2007.
Hamas forces break up electricity crisis protests
Hamas forces break up electricity crisis protests
Syrian government, Kurdish forces announce integration deal
- Under the agreement, forces that had amassed on front lines in the country’s north would pull back
- Security forces will deploy to the centers of the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli in the northeast
DAMASCUS: The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led group the Syrian Democratic Forces said on Friday they had agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire and a phased integration of military and administrative bodies into the Syrian state under a broad deal.
Under the agreement, forces that had amassed on front lines in the country’s north would pull back and Interior Ministry security forces will deploy to the centers of the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli in the northeast, both currently held by the SDF. Local security forces will be merged.
The sides announced the deal after Syrian government forces under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa captured swathes of northern and eastern Syria from the SDF this month, forcing the Kurdish forces to retreat into a shrinking enclave.
The agreement includes the formation of a military division that will include three SDF brigades, in addition to the formation of a brigade for forces in the SDF-held town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, which will be affiliated to the governorate of Aleppo.
“The agreement aims to unify Syrian territory and achieve full integration in the region by strengthening cooperation between the concerned parties and unifying efforts to rebuild the country,” according to the deal as announced by the SDF.
A senior Syrian government official told Reuters the deal was final and had been reached late on Thursday night, and that implementation was to begin immediately.
