GAZA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement said on Monday that Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip reflected its "internal crisis" caused by anti-Israel mass marches.
"The Israeli airstrikes on resistance sites in Gaza reflect the depth of the internal crisis and the state of confusion Israel has been going through," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a press statement.
Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have launched a six-week long protest along the Gaza borders with Israel on March 30.
The protest, dubbed the "Great March of Return," demands Israel to acknowledge Palestinian refugees' right to return to their lands before the 1948 war, known also as Israel's Independence War.
The protests are expected to culminate next month, when Israel will mark its 70th Independence Day and the Palestinians will commemorate the Nakba Day, or "Day of the Catastrophe."
At least 30 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of others injured since the beginning of the massive Palestinian protest.
Meanwhile, Barhoum said that the crisis in Israel was the result of the success of the Palestinian masses to expose Israel's crimes as well as the protesters' development of "popular struggle."
He added that Israel's military escalation is meant to cover its crisis and crimes against the unarmed demonstrators.
Earlier in the day, Palestinian sources said that Israeli jetfighters targeted two military posts of Hamas in northern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army said the air raids came in response to an infiltration attempt by Gaza militants a day earlier.
