Ismail Haniyeh
Ismail HaniyehReuters

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday that the group would not be able to contain the mass protests on the day the U.S. moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“We cannot stop the tens of thousands of residents who will go north, south and east to protest against the siege imposed upon Gaza,” he said, according to reports in Israeli media.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced two weeks ago that the American embassy would move to Jerusalem in May to coincide with Israel’s 70th Independence Day.

The embassy will be in located in the building that houses the consular operation in Jerusalem before moving to a separate annex by the end of 2019.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) blasted the decision, with senior official Saeb Erekat saying, "The American administration's decisions to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and choose the Palestinian people's Nakba as the date for this step is a blatant violation of international law.”

The Arabs refer to Israel’s founding as the Nakba, meaning the "catastrophe" in Arabic.

Earlier this week, officials in Gaza said hundreds of tents are to be erected near the Gaza-Israel border for a six-week protest between March 30 and May 15.

Protesters plan to call for the granting of a right of return for millions of so-called “Palestinian refugees” across the Middle East.

Israeli media said the army viewed the event as a potential security threat, while authorities were concerned over how to respond if violence erupted with women and children among the protesters.

Hamas has denied it initiated the tent protest.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)