The Palestinian Authority banned any protests in the occupied Palestinian territories, in anticipation of a demonstration aimed at lifting sanctions off the Gaza Strip. This would be the third march called for by the “Movement for Lifting Sanctions Imposed on Gaza”. The movement, Palestinian factions and civil society organizations responded to the PA by calling for the greatest participation possible in the peaceful rallies. The decision came hours before a planned march in central Ramallah to demand that the PA lift sanctions off the Gaza Strip and dispense salaries to all employees. Civil society organizations held an urgent meeting Wednesday to address the issue. They stressed in a statement the citizens’ right to hold peaceful gatherings and to freedom of expression as stipulated by Palestinian law and international human rights. They also underlined the importance of ending political divisions and achieving Palestinian reconciliation to ease the people’s suffering. Hamas, meanwhile, decried the PA’s decision to ban demonstrations in the West Bank. The movement’s spokesman Hazem Qassem deemed the move a violation of Palestinian law and an act repression. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine denounced the ban, describing it as a violation of the law, which guarantees freedom of speech and the right to gather peacefully. It said that the governing authority has no capacity, according to the law, to prevent any peaceful marches.