Palestinian children rally against siege on Gaza-Egypt borders

GAZA, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement Monday sent children participating in its summer camps to demonstrate in front of Rafah crossing point in southern Gaza Strip, calling on Egypt to open the border terminal.

Seven of the children were dressed in white as one of the cheerleaders spilled red paint on their cloths, trying to highlight the suffering of Palestinians injured in Israel's January offensive in Gaza and their lack of access to medical centers abroad.

Nearly 700 children joined the demonstration which took place on the Hamas-controlled side of Rafah crossing.

"We came here to call for an end to the siege and to our children's starvation who are dying," said Hamada Mattar, one of the organizers of Hamas' religious summer camps program.

Israel and Egypt have been maintaining the closure of their border with the Gaza Strip since Hamas routed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' forces and seized the territory in June 2007.

Yehia Jum'a, 10, said he came to the rally "to appeal for (Egyptian) President Hosni Mubarak to open Rafah crossing to allow aid and humanitarian convoys in."

Egypt opens Rafah crossing on its own will occasionally to allow movement of patients and stranded humanitarian cases, but Hamas demands to keep the terminal open round the clock.

A U.S.-brokered protocol said the crossing can not work permanently without the presence of pro-Abbas forces and monitors from the European Union.