Land Day commemorates the day in 1976 when Israeli forces killed six Arabs and injured a hundred others during a land expropriation mission. It embodies the Palestinian desire for self determination. CGTN'S Stephanie Freid in Ramallah brings us the latest.

STEPHANIE FREID RAMALLAH "This year's Land Day or March of Return is characterized by a new tactic: peaceful protests along the Gaza-Israel border and a sit-in strike scheduled to last 6 weeks. Leading up to Land Day Israel's government warned against protestor violence and attempts to breach the border saying protestors violating the border will be shot. Israel's military significantly beefed up its presence on the Gaza border and throughout the West Bank on Friday in anticipation of violence, including deploying snipers. Hamas organized and funded the mass campaign. The group's Hamas and Palestinian officials say the peaceful protest is meant to shine a spotlight on Israel's ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza and the Jewish State's continued occupation of Palestinian land. Land Day protests were also called for the West Bank and Arab populated cities inside Israel.

In Gaza, demonstrators say they'll stay in tents positioned at the border until mid May. That's when the U.S. government seals its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital by moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem Palestinians claim Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. STEPHANIE FREID, CGTN, Ramallah.