RAMALLAH // Palestinians staged small demonstrations yesterday to mark the 45th anniversary of the Six Day War in which Israelseized the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Near the West Bank city of Ramallah, around 200 people protested by the Ofer military prison, with clashes breaking out as demonstrators threw stones at troops who fired tear gas. Several people were injured and treated at the scene.
In Hebron, around 200 protesters took part in a rally, including foreign activists. A witness said clashes also broke out there, with Israeli troops arresting two people.
In Gaza City, between 200 and 300 people marched from the Square of the Unknown Soldier to the United Nations' Gaza headquarters in a rally organised by Hamas.
Protesters held up maps depicting the pre-1948 Mandate for Palestine, including what is now Israel, and waved green Hamas flags.
The small and largely-peaceful marches were in stark contrast to last year's anniversary, when protesters attempted to storm across the border from Syria into the occupied Golan Heights.
Troops fired on the demonstrators, with Syria claiming 23 people were killed and 350 wounded by Israeli soldiers. Israel said it counted 10 deaths, but that none of the demonstrators were killed by Israeli fire.
Three weeks ago, thousands of protesters in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza tried to force their way across the borders in a mass show of mourning over the 1948 creation of Israel, known as the "Nakba" or "catastrophe".
At that time, hundreds forced their way on to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, where troops fired on them killing four, while a similar yet unsuccessful attempt along the Lebanon border left seven dead, according to UN figures.