A large number of Palestinian people have participated in the funeral of five Palestinians who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral in Deir-al Balah in central Gaza Strip on Sunday, chanting slogans against Israel.

Mourners carried the bodies of Ahmed al-Assar, Abdullah al-Shirehi and three others through the streets of Gaza, condemning the overnight attack, Palestinian sources said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riad al-Maleki denounced the Israeli airstrike, which was one of the deadliest strikes since the 22-day Gaza incursion.

Israel’s attack against the coastal enclave, which began in December 2008, killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

The PA protests and condemns each Israeli attack against our people, Maleki said in a Sunday address broadcast by the Voice of Palestine radio station in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

"But despite the crimes of the occupation, we maintain the will to continue the process of construction and preparation for the proclamation of the Palestinian state regardless of the Israeli actions," he said.

Maleki also lauded the Palestinians’ recent success in gaining independent statehood recognition from over 130 nations, including several South American countries, based on the 1967 borders — the boundaries that existed before Israel captured East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the West Bank.

"Palestinian efforts are currently focusing on rallying recognition of their state from the largest number possible of states across the globe, in preparation for seeking recognition from the United Nations," Maleki said.

(Press TV)