Fayyad called on Palestinians to “hold on to their lands” instead of “a popular uprising in the West Bank.”

Fayyad was speaking in the village of Izbet Al-Tabeeb, to the east of Qalqilyah, to mark the “Land Day.”

Among the Palestinian speakers at the rally was Qalqilyah governor Rabih Al-Khandaqji, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi of the Palestinian National Initiative Party, Palestinian Parliament Members Mahmoud Al Aloul, top Fatah official Hatim Abdulqader, as well as prominent Israeli left-wing activist Uri Avnery and Arab Knesset Member Mohammad Barakeh.

Fayyad said that “every day in which the Palestinian people hold on to their land is ‘Land Day’.”

The prime minister rejected the Hamas movement’s calls for a third Intifada in the West Bank to protest Israeli policies.

“The Palestinian people constantly resist the occupation. The next phase is an uprising and an intifada. Those who call for an intifada now do not know what it means. This call stems from a lack of understanding of the word ‘intifada’ and a lack of understanding of the Palestinian nation and the character of its struggle,” Fayyad said.

“The steadfastness in our lands is our answer to those who call for a popular uprising in the West Bank,” he added.

“Land Day” commemorates the killing of six Palestinians in the Galilee on March 30, 1976 by Israeli troops during peaceful protests against the Israeli government’s announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for “security and settlement purposes.”

Barakeh said that “this day is a letter to the Israeli government that the Palestinians are unified against the Separation Wall and its policy against our brothers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” He urged the Palestinian political factions “to seek unity to face Israeli policies.”

For his part, Avnery slammed Israel’s policies, saying they led to the events of 1976. He called for Israeli-Palestinian cooperation to advance peace.

In a separate development, a Palestinian youth was wounded and dozens of protesters suffered from gas inhalation on Saturday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Iraq Bourin, to the southwest of Nablus, a Palestinian official said.

Abdulrahim Qadous, the head of Iraq Bourn council, told Arab News that Ibrahim Qadous was hit by a metal bullet and the others suffered from gas inhalation. Israeli soldiers at the scene also fired live ammunition at the protesters, the official said, prompting clashes that lasted for almost two hours.

He added that the clashes erupted after the villagers arrived at a site between the village and the nearby settlement of Bracha to protest the confiscation of their farmland and the continued Israeli occupiers’ attacks against the villagers.

Abdulrahim added that every Saturday occupiers come to the village, attack the locals and destroy property, leading to clashes with the Palestinians.