Popular uprising against Israeli siege on the way

Hamas government in the Gaza Strip said on Saturday that Palestinians in the coastal region are likely to take matters into their own hands to end the Israeli siege and they will support them.

However de facto government spokesman, Taher An-Nono, denied that anyone was planning to breach the Egyptian border, as happened in January. He said "No one is threatening Egypt and no one is permitted to do so," he told a press conference on Saturday.

He said that any Palestinian uprising against the siege would not be directed against Egypt, stressing that Palestinians know what they are doing and their threats are only directed at Israel.

"It is the right of our people to defend their rights and to confront injustice especially the blockade imposed on Gaza which is totally unacceptable," he said.

An-Nono added that about 80% of vehicles are without fuel and schools and universities may close as staff and students are unable to get to class.

He continued saying that Egypt and other Arab and Islamic countries should work to lift the blockade and Palestinians will not remain silent when they see that people are being killed in the Gaza Strip. "These people will not die in silence," he said, criticizing the Arab and Islamic silence on the siege.

An-Nono also warned of the "risks" of the Palestinian-Israeli meetings, describing the meetings as "a second Oslo that is being prepared secretly."