GAZA CITY, Gaza, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Thousands of Gaza residents heeded a Fatah call to pray outside the mosques Friday in the largest protest in the territory since the Hamas takeover in June.
In large towns like Gaza City and Rafah, the prayer sessions were followed by anti-Hamas protest marches, the BBC reported. About 20 people were injured in clashes with Hamas security forces.
Sami Abu-Zuhni, a spokesman for Hamas, said police did not interrupt peaceful protests but intervened only when the demonstrations threatened to become violent.
"The Executive Force was forced to use sticks to disperse the demonstrators who tried to cause chaos on the Gaza Strip streets," he told the BBC.
In June, Hamas effectively took control of Gaza while Fatah did the same on the West Bank. Both parties have closed opposition newspapers.
Also Friday, the Israeli government acknowledged that three children killed earlier this week were playing tag around a rocket launcher. In a statement, the Israeli Defense Force said soldiers who fired at the children realized too late that they were not grown men trying to retrieve the launcher, The New York Times reported.
