Rocket fired from Gaza (archive)
Rocket fired from Gaza (archive)Flash 90

Gaza's Hamas rulers fired a volley of rockets into the sea Wednesday in a warning to Israel not to apply its law to parts of Judea and Samaria, sources in the Islamist organisation told AFP.

The showcase launch of about 20 test rockets from the coastal territory came as thousands of people in Gaza City answered Hamas calls for street protests.

Last week the group said that should Israel go ahead with applying sovereignty, as provided for in a US peace plan, it would amount to a "declaration of war" against the Palestinian Arabs.

Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition government had set July 1 as the date from which it could begin implementing US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace proposal.

But there was no announcement by Wednesday afternoon and none scheduled.

The Gaza protesters brandished Palestinian flags and placards condemning Trump, while calling for Hamas to take up arms against Israel.

"The resistance must be revived," demonstrator Rafeeq Inaiah told AFP. "Israel is afraid of force."

Others held signs reading "No to annexation" and "Palestinian lives matter", referencing the US-born antiracist movement "Black lives matter", AFP journalists at the scene said.

Demonstrations were also building in the Palestinian Authority.

In the ancient Jordan Valley city of Jericho, a small number of Arab protesters were joined by retired left-wing Israeli politicians, among them Ophir Pines-Paz, a former Labor party interior minister.

"We want to affirm our support for peace," he said. "Netanyahu and his annexation project must be stopped."