(AFP) - Israel warned Hamas on Sunday it would defend its territory if there were any disturbances during a planned mass rally in Gaza on Monday against the Jewish state's blockade of the territory.
"Israel will not intervene in demonstrations inside the Gaza Strip but it will ensure the defence of its territory and prevent any violation of its sovereign borders," said a joint statement from Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
Media reports said the Israeli army is preparing for a possible rush on the border fence around the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip aimed at breaking a months-long economic blockade on the impoverished territory.
"Israel will work to avoid a deterioration of the situation but declares unequivocally that Hamas must assume full responsibility if that happens," the statement said.
According to Israeli army radio, the Islamist movement which seized control of Gaza in June has may stage a mass march on the border to protest at Israel's closure of Gaza, where most of tbhe 1.5 million population depend on aid.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper has reported that Israeli forces have increased their presence along the border, adding that there were fears of casualties if troops try to halt such a march.
The Popular Committee Against the Siege (PCAS), a politically independent group headed by Palestinian parliamentarian Jamal al-Khudari, has called for a mass demonstration on Monday against the siege.
The group has announced it will attempt to construct a human chain from the sealed Rafah crossing on the southern Gaza border with Egypt to the Beit Hanun crossing in northern Gaza along the territory's main highway.
Hamas has said it backs the demonstration but did not organise it.
Palestinian militants blasted several holes in the border barrier between Gaza and Egypt on January 23, sending a tide of hundreds of thousands of people streaming into the Sinai on a mission to replenish depleted stocks.
Hamas gunmen and Egyptian troops resealed the border on February 3.
Israel has sealed the territory off from all but vital humanitarian supplies since Hamas violently seized power there in June, in a bid to halt rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel.
But Palestinians and several international agencies have said the sanctions amount to collective punishment of its civilian population.
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