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Sunday, April 1, 2018
Dozens gather on Gaza border as Palestinians mourn 'heinous massacre'
PA
declares national day of mourning, one day after at least 16 people
killed and more than 1,400 reported wounded by Israeli security forces
Relatives of Abu Amshah mourn during his funeral in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip (Reuters)
Saturday 31 March 2018
Dozens of Palestinian youths gathered by the Gaza-Israel border on
Saturday, though the area remained mostly quiet, a day after deadly
violence broke out in one of the biggest Palestinian demonstrations
there in years.
In the southern Gaza Strip, residents said Israeli troops fired warning
shots towards a crowd of youths, some of whom burnt tyres. Health
officials said thirteen people were wounded and an Israeli military
spokesman said he was checking the details.
Hundreds also gathered on Saturday in Northern Gaza to pay their
respects to at least 16 Palestinians killed and hundreds wounded during
Friday's violence.
Images posted online showed hundreds of mourners carrying the casket of
some of the slain Palestinians through the streets of Gaza City as
relatives were pictured weeping and crying for their loved ones.
The Palestinian land will always belong to its legitimate owners and the occupation will be removed-Mahmoud Abbas spokespeman
Israeli security forces killed at least 16 Palestinians, injuring more
than 1,400 people who had mobilised as part of the annual Land day
protests, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.
The ministry also noted that at least 773 Palestinians were wounded with live ammunition.
Dr Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the ministry, said that "most the dead were aged between 17 and 35".
He also told the Guardian that the remainder of the wounded, some of whom were in a critical condition, had been "shot with live ammunition".
The Israeli army was unable to confirm how many live rounds were fired
by its snipers after claiming to know where "every bullet landed in
Gaza".
Mark Regev, Israel's ambassador to the UK, defended Israel's response on
Saturday saying it was proportionate and blamed Hamas, which controls
Gaza, for Friday's violence.
"We can’t allow our border to be porous, we can’t allow the Hamas
activists to tear down our fence and enter Israel," Regev told the BBC.
"We would be putting our people in danger."
Hamas confirmed in a statement on Saturday that five of the 16 people
killed by Israel on the Gaza border were members of its armed wing.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Saturday a national day of
mourning, and a general strike was called across the occupied West Bank.
Clashes were also reported in the West Bank city of Hebron between
Palestinian protestors and Israeli soldiers.
In New York, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called
for an "independent and transparent investigation into these incidents".
“This tragedy underlines the urgency of revitalizing the peace process
aiming at creating the conditions for a return to meaningful
negotiations for a peaceful solution that will allow Palestinians and
Israelis to live side by side peacefully and in security,” Guterres'
office said in a statement.
In Brussels, the European Union's foreign policy chief
Federica Mogherini also called for "an independent and transparent
investigation" into Israeli security forces' use of live ammunition.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the UK's opposition Labour Party, condemned
Israel and said in a tweet that the "killing and wounding by Israeli
forces of civilians demonstrating for Palestinian rights in Gaza is
appalling".
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on Friday along the
fenced 65km frontier, where tents were raised for a planned six-week
protest pressing for a right of return for refugees and their
descendants to what is now Israel. The Israeli military estimate was
30,000.
Families brought their children to the encampments just a few hundred
metres from the Israeli security barrier with the Hamas-run enclave.
Football pitches were marked out in the sand and scout bands played.
Hundreds gathered to pay respects to slain Palestinians across Gaza city (Reuters)
But as Friday wore on, Israeli soldiers on the other side kept watch
from dirt mound embankments and shot at the protesters as violence broke
out. The United Nations on Friday called for an independent and
transparent investigation into the deaths and injuries of Palestinians
on Israel's border with Gaza.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, described Friday's
violence as a "heinous massacre" at the UN. He said that Palestinians
expected the UN Security Council to "defuse this volatile situation" and
to "shoulder its responsibility".
A senior UN official also told the Security Council on Friday that the
situation in Gaza "might deteriorate in the coming days" and called for
civilians to not be targeted.
Nakba day protests
The six-week protest is scheduled to culminate on May 15, the day
Palestinians commemorate what they call the "Nakba" or "Catastrophe,"
when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes in
1948 when the state of Israel was created.
Israel has long ruled out any right of return, fearing an influx of
Arabs that would wipe out its Jewish majority. It argues that refugees
should resettle in a future state the Palestinians seek in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Peace talks to that end have been
frozen since 2014.
Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said: "The message of the
Palestinian people is clear. The Palestinian land will always belong to
its legitimate owners and the occupation will be removed."
Israeli military spokesman Brigadier-General Ronen Manelis said Hamas
was using the protests as a guise to launch attacks against Israel and
ignite the area. He said violence would likely continue along the border
until 15 May.
"We won't let this turn into a ping-pong zone where they perpetrate a
terrorist act and we respond with pinpoint action. If this continues we
will not have no choice but to respond inside the Gaza Strip," Manelis
told reporters in a phone briefing.
Additional reporting by Chloe Benoit in Hebron.
