Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated near the Israeli borders with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon, protesting Israeli closure and demanding freedom of prisoners.

The crowds gathered at the Palestinian side of Erez crossing point in northern Gaza Strip, shortly after Israeli protestors gathered at the other side.

Israelis were there to demand their state to tighten the blockade on Gaza, unless Hamas, the Islamic movement which controls the coastal Strip, frees an Israeli soldier, captured three years ago.

"Gilad Shalit will not see the light as long as our prisoners remain in the jails," said one of the signs the Palestinian demonstrators waved, referring to the captive Israeli Corporal.

"I told Shalit's father, who was standing not far from us, that his son would not be freed as long as my son and more than 11,000 prisoners remained held by Israel," said Abu Moussa Badawi, a father of a Palestinian prisoner.

Other Palestinian boys and women raised banners calling for peace and for the lift of embargo Israel imposed on the Gaza Stripin June 2007 when Hamas seized power there.

Ali al-Nazli, one of the organizers, said they will spare no effort to rally against the Israeli blockade which "kept the crossings closed for food and medicine, and killed patients who were unable to leave for outside medical treatment."

Earlier this morning, the Israeli demonstrators barred trucks from making their way to the Gaza Strip to deliver limited amounts of food that Israel allowed into the Hamas-controlled enclave.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2009)