Two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli army gunfire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said, as clashes resumed between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli forces along the Israel-Gaza border for the second consecutive Friday of mass protests.
According to the Health Ministry, 151 Palestinian protesters have been wounded by Israeli gunfire and rubber bullets, five of whom seriously as a result of gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. Those wounded were evacuated to hospitals in Gaza, with more being treated at the scene – mainly for smoke inhalation.
The ministry identified the casualties as Osama Khamis, 38, and Majdi Shabat, raising the death toll to 24 since the “March of Return” – a series of mass protests along the border leading up to Nakba Day – began on March 30. Earlier Friday, the ministry reported on the death of Tair Mohammed, Raba’a, a 30-year-old protester who was wounded near the border fence last week during the demonstrations
The IDF said demonstrators have hurled stones and molotov cocktails at soldiers stationed along the border and burned U.S. flags and pictures of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, who said Tuesday that the Israelis have a right to live on their own land.
Clashes also erupted in the West Bank around the cities of Nablus, Al-Bireh, Ramallah and Hebron. The Health Ministry in Ramallah said two Palestinians have been wounded from rubber-tipped bullets fired by Israeli forces. One of those wounded was shot in the head, while the second sustained a gunshot wound to the leg.
The military has assessed that fewer demonstrators will take to the border with Gaza this Friday compared to the 40,000 who protested last week, despite the military estimating only a day earlier that 50,000 would participate in Friday’s rallies.
Nevertheless, the organizers of the “March of Return” have already described this Friday’s protests as a great success, both in terms of the amount of Gazans who have taken to the border area and the amount of young Palestinians who have headed calls to approach the fence.
Hamas mandated all of its platoon officers ahead of the protests to join the demonstrations along with their family members. In preperation for the rallies, tractors expanded the encampment near the city of Khan Yunis in the southern strip, and have mounded sand heaps along the fence to protect demonstrators from IDF fire.
The Adalah Legal Center and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, based in Gaza, petitioned Israel’s Attorney General and the IDF’s Military Advocate General and requested they explicitly order Israeli forces to refrain from using any kind of live ammunition.
“Live gunfire against protesters in Gaza is against international law and Israeli law,” read the statement. “We state and emphasize again that this infringement amplifies itself with clear criminal dimensions, in light of the fact that it is premeditated and on the basis of intention to use live ammunition illegally.”
The IDF insists it will not allow breach of the fence, which intelligence assessment indicate is Hamas’ goal. According to the assessments, Hamas is looking for a photo op of thousands of protesters in Israeli territory.
According to army sources, a distinction is made by the IDF’s chief staff between Hamas’ achievements on a diplomatic level, and on an operational one. As the IDF sees it, diplomatically, Hamas achieved a victory by having Gaza once again on the daily agenda across media outlets globally. Operationally, IDF posits that Hamas is dissatisfied with its failure to breach the fence or exact a succesful attack. The guiding line is that Israeli forces maintain a firm approach with protesters while doing their best to prevent an escalation that could lead to a broader confrontation.
The IDF has clarified it does not oppose demonstrations around the encampment, but it will not tolerate thousands approaching the fence. The military has also increased the amount of live documentation to counter Palestinians’ claims and video evidence coming out of Gaza.
The protests, known as the “March of Return,” started last Friday on Land Day, a day Palestinians worldwide have commemorated since 1976, when Israeli security forces shot dead six Israeli Arabs who were protesting the expropriation of Arab-owned land in northern Israel to build Jewish communities. About 100 others were wounded and hundreds were arrested during the protest on March 30 of that year.
As part of the “March of Return,” thousands of Palestinians are camping out in a what is being called a “tent city” near the fence as an extended protest until Nakba Day in mid-May, with weekly demonstrations on Fridays. Nabka Day, which commemorates the flight or expulsion of more than 700,000 Arabs during Israels War of Independence in 1947-49, is usually observed on Israeli Independence Day as well as its official date of May 15.
Source: Gaza border clashes resume: Two Palestinians said killed, 151 wounded by Israeli gunfire
