A Palestinian child holds picture of Arthur Balfour in a demonstration north of Gaza [File: Mohammed Salem/Al Jazeera]

Gaza City, November 3 (RHC)-- Dozens of Palestinians have taken part in a protest at the Jablia refugee camp in the besieged Gaza Strip to demand the United Kingdom recognize an independent Palestinian state.

The protest came on the 104th anniversary of the the Balfour Declaration, a public pledge made by the UK, expressing its support for “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. The statement came in the form of a letter from the UK’s then-foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour.

Palestinian factions organised Tuesday’s rally, where protesters held banners and chanted slogans urging the UK to stand by its responsibility and recognise an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and to acknowledge the suffering caused by the statement.

Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanou told Al Jazeera that the UK is fully responsible for an “historical, political and moral crime” towards the Palestinian people.  “Since that pledge, our people have been in a continuous suffering and an open battle with the Israeli occupation in order to obtain their rights in their land that was gifted to Israel to establish its lands,” he said.

Al-Qanou said the UK should compensate Palestinians for the injustice they have suffered as a result of the declaration.  “No matter how long it takes, we won’t give up our rights to resist and struggle until it is liberated from occupation,” he added.