“Today, people in Palestine from all (social) strata – old or young, male or female – have risen up, and the resistance forces in Hamas and Islamic Jihad are on the frontline of this Intifada,” Qadoumi told the Tasnim News Agency on Saturday.

The Hamas envoy stressed that the Palestinian people are faithful to their country, announcing that the “Third Intifada” has already begun.

Only on Friday, eight Palestinians were martyred, he stated, reiterating that “this is an Intifada”.

He further slammed certain Arab countries for their silence over the slaughter of Palestinians by the Zionist regime, saying their reactions towards the new Intifada is “embarrassingly trivial”.

His remarks came after senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh declared the ongoing unrest in the occupied territories and the West Bank to be an Intifada, as six Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces while protesting at a border fence in Gaza, further raising the stakes after a week of escalating violence.

In a sermon for Friday prayers at a mosque in Gaza City, Haniyeh said, “We are calling for the strengthening and increasing of the intifada. It is the only path that will lead to liberation. Gaza will fulfil its role in the Jerusalem intifada and it is more than ready for confrontation.”

Israeli troops fired across the border into Gaza, killing six and wounding 23 others among a group throwing stones and taking part in a rally, hospital officials in Gaza said.

Fourteen Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and around 1,000 injured with live and rubber-coated steel bullets in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip since Oct. 1, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Saturday; Tasnimnews reported.