Arab Member of Knesset Haneen Zoabi. Photo: Coletiva com Haneen Zoabi via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – At a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday, Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi (Joint List) called on Palestinians to “march on Jerusalem” to support Gaza rioters who have been attacking the border with Israel over the last few weeks.

Zoabi told reporters that “Israel is only looking for an excuse to kill the Palestinians.” She said that the tens of thousands of Gazans who converged on the Gaza fence in the “March of Return” protesters over the last three weeks were engaged in a “march of peace” which is she called “peaceful act of popular struggle,” despite the throwing of Molotov cocktails, burning tires, and rioters attempting to cut the fence.

“We need to go on popular marches to remind the world of the siege,” Zoabi said. “We need millions of Palestinians to march on Jerusalem. That is the aspiration. But we can’t do it, because the Israelis would kill them.”

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar echoed the call to march on Jerusalem on Friday, saying his organization would “wait for our great move, when we breach the borders and pray at Al-Aqsa.”

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon responded that Zoabi was “exploit[ing] her status to spread lies from the UN stage and support a terror organization calling for the annihilation of the State of Israel and using children as human shields.”

Likud MK Oren Hazan filed a complaint against Zoabi with the Knesset Ethics Committee on Sunday about her remarks.

The Hamas terror organization has been actively recruiting rioters to attack and breach the Israel-Gaza border fence, promising financial rewards to families whose children suffer injuries or death during the demonstrations.