Gaza families call for a probe into Israeli response to protests
BEIT LAHIA, Gaza — The morning after burying 19-year-old Abdul Fattah Abdul Nabi, his family gathered in a tent set up to receive mourners, watching and rewatching a video of the moment they say Israeli soldiers shot him in the back of the head.
The video appears to show Abdul Fattah, dressed in black, running away from the border fence carrying a tire. Just before reaching the crowd, he crumples under gunfire.
“He had no gun, no Molotov, a tire. Does that harm the Israelis, a tire?” asked his brother Mohamed Abdul Nabi, 22. “He wasn’t going toward the Israeli side. He was running away.”
The teenager was one of at least 15 people killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Friday, during what Palestinian factions billed as a peaceful “March of Return” to mark Land Day, the anniversary of the expropriation of Arab-owned land by the Israeli government in 1976. But it ended as the bloodiest day in the 140-square-mile territory since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Israeli military for guarding the country’s borders. “Israel will act firmly and decisively to protect its sovereignty and the security of its citizens,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
The Israel military has warned that it will “expand” its response if violence continues. Hamas and other factions in Gaza have vowed to keep up demonstrations, raising fears of more clashes.
Abdul Fattah’s family is among those demanding an investigation into the Israeli response to the protest, saying videos show he posed no threat. More than 700 people were injured with live ammunition in the demonstration, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. Another 49 were wounded Saturday, it said.
The United Nations on Saturday said it was “deeply concerned” and called for a transparent, independent investigation. Israeli human rights group Adalah and the Gazabased Al Mezan Center for Human Rights wrote to Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to demand accountability.
In the letter, they said the use of such weapons against civilians was a “blatant violation of international laws.”
Israel said it stuck to strict rules of engagement to deal with a 30,000- strong crowd along the border, saying “rioters” threw Molotov cocktails and stones, burned tires, and attempted to break through the fence.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond Saturday to requests to clarify the rules of engagement that were followed. In the days preceding the demonstration, it had dropped leaflets warning residents in Gaza to stay at least 300 meters from the border fence or risk being shot.
Israel accused Hamas of using the cover of peaceful demonstrations to carry out attacks. Hamas said five of those killed were members of its military wing, releasing their names and pictures.
Israel put the number of Hamas militants killed at eight, including a 20-year-old with a name similar to Abdul Fattah. It said two others among the dead were also members of militant groups.
Abdul Fattah’s family said he worked in his brother’s falafel shop during the week and in a kitchen on Fridays. They said he did not belong to an armed faction. Unlike at other funeral tents for dead militants, there were no signs showing his allegiance.
His family though, made no effort to hide the fact that Abdul Fattah went to demonstrations and threw stones. That’s no reason to be shot, they said.
“They were throwing stones, but the stones never even reached the fence,” said 28-year-old Alaa Abdul Nabi, another brother of the slain demonstrator. “It’s a message, to throw a stone from our land.”
Many demonstrators said they were there to protest peacefully. The family of 20-year-old Badr Sabbagh said he had just arrived to watch the demonstrations when he was shot. They rejected the Israeli army’s assertion that everyone killed was involved in violence.
“He asked for a cigarette, I gave it to him, he had two puffs, and then he was shot in the head,” said Mohammed Sabbagh, his 29-yearold brother. “He’d only been there 10 minutes.”
“I took my grandchildren. We went to a peaceful demonstration,” said his father Fayik Sabbagh, 64. “We went them to tell them this is our land, but what we found was different.”
The protests, which Hamas and other Palestinian factions hope to sustain for another month and a half, had died down slightly Saturday, with thinner crowds.