Gaza, Aug. 11: Thousands of Palestinian protesters marched on Gaza’s main street on Monday demanding Israel free their prisoners and end a closure it posed after a suicide attack last month in Jerusalem.  

“As long as my son is in prison, I don’t feel any peace,” said a woman, whose 24-year-old son Ahmad is serving a life term in an Israel jail.  

The protesters — including the wife of imprisoned Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin — cradled framed, blown-up photos of their husbands and sons and waved Palestinian flags.  

“Yasser — the leader and the President — we are with you,” one sign read, referring to PLO leader Yasser Arafat. “There’s no peace keeping prisoners as hostage,” said another.  

The protests coincided with a new peace mission by US envoy Dennis Ross to try and save Israeli-Palestinian peace process which hit crisis level after two Muslim bombers killed themselves and 14 people in a Jewish market in Jerusalem on July 30.  

Palestinian officials say 3,500 political prisoners are there in Israeli different jails. (Reuter)