Israel Again Targets Peaceful Protests With Live Ammo

Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas on unarmed Palestinians protesting for the third Friday in a row near Gaza’s border.

At least 528 protesters were injured, 59 by gunshots and many others by tear gas, 107 of whom were hospitalized. At least one has been killed and another is in a critical condition. Ten of the wounded are nurses and paramedics in Khan Younis, while two are journalists, WSWS.org reported.

Without providing a shred of evidence, Israel has accused Hamas, which governs Gaza, of using the protests as a cover for carrying out attacks on the border.

Sections of the Israeli media called yesterday’s protest “Molotov Day”—and claimed that the Palestinians were planning to throw improvised incendiary devices (IEDs) toward Israeli forces—in an attempt to brand the demonstrations as violent and justify Israel’s criminal response.

Israeli forces have killed 34 Palestinians, including 26 demonstrators, since the start of the March of Return just over two weeks ago. Yet not a single Israeli has been killed or even injured, and no Israeli property has been damaged or put at risk. Furthermore, the shooting of unarmed civilians constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.

The six-week peaceful protest is demanding the Palestinians’ right to return to their ancestors’ villages and towns in what is now occupied by Israel.

The march is also calling for the full implementation of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 1948 stipulating that “the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.”

The six-week campaign will conclude on May 15, the 70th anniversary of the creation of Israel, which the Palestinians commemorate as Nakba (Catastrophe Day). The US is set to open its embassy in Beit-ul- Moqaddas on that day.

Yesterday’s casualties follow Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s earlier pledge of a “reaction of the harshest kind” and his warning that Israel’s open-fire rules for the Gaza border—a shoot-to-kill policy—would remain in place and that anyone approaching the border was endangering their life.