GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — No one expected the four Israeli mothers to be successful in their series of sit-ins in front of the homes and offices of Israeli authorities in demanding their sons, soldiers serving in South Lebanon, be saved. However, they got what they wanted, Israel retreated and the movement of the four mothers came to mark a turning point in history.

After failed political meetings to end the division between Fatah and Hamas, all that is left is the weekly sit-in organized by a group of women in the Park of the Unknown Soldier each Tuesday. It brings together different parties, except for Islamist ones, to demand the end of the Palestinian political division.

Last Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 12:00 pm, Al-Monitor attended the sit-in organized by the General Union for Palestinian Women (GUPW) with the participation of women’s associations. Men from the investigative services, dressed in civilian clothing, surrounded the women who had begun to arrive.

One detective asked the campaign’s coordinator, Nawal Zaqout, about the event’s licensing. She replied that according to the law, there is no need for licensing. Even so, she had tried to contact a number of offices from the security apparatuses, which had not replied to her. They exchanged more questions and answers before he asked that they quietly leave before any problems begin.