国际英语新闻:Palestinians protest against Israeli blockade of Gaza Strip

GAZA, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinians staged on Sunday a protest at the borderline between the eastern Gaza Strip and Israel against the Israeli blockade of the enclave.

The demonstrators, who waved the Palestinian flags, called for ending the Israeli siege that has been imposed on the strip for eight years.

They also called for speeding up the process of the Gaza reconstruction.

Israeli soldiers stationed at the borderline fired warning shots into the air to prevent the protestors from approaching the fence of the borders, witnesses said.

On July 8, Israel waged a 50-day large military air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, which killed 2,200 Palestinians and wounded 11,000 others. Large destruction was also left in housing and infrastructure.

Since the end of the Israeli offensive on the territory, donors did not fulfill their pledged 5.4 billion U.S. dollars to the Palestinians.

The UN announced last year that it stopped aiding the Gazans due to shortage of financing.