Gaza border protest leaves one dead, 969 hurt
GAZA, Palestinian Territory — Thousands of Palestinians, some burning Israeli flags and torching tires, staged a mass protest on Gaza’s sealed border with Israel for a third consecutive Friday, as part of a pressure campaign to break a decade-old blockade of their territory.
Israeli live fire from across the border fence killed a 28-year-old Palestinian man and wounded at least 223, Gaza health officials said.
The death brought to 28 the number of protesters killed in two weeks, with more than 1,500 wounded by Israeli fire since March 30, they said.
The marches have been organized by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, but large turnouts on two preceding Fridays were also driven by desperation among the territory’s two million residents, who have been enduring a crippling border closure by Israel and Egypt since 2007.
“We want to live like everyone else in the world,” said 37-year-old construction worker Omar Hamada, an unemployed father of eight. “We came here so the world can see us and know that life here is miserable, and that there should be a solution.”
On Friday, the turnout seemed to be significantly lower than on previous Fridays — about 10,000 protesters, according to the Israeli military — raising questions about the organizers’ goal of keeping the mass marches going until mid-May.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 969 people were hurt Friday, including 223 by live fire and the rest by tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets or shrapnel. Fifteen of the wounded were in serious conditions, including a Gaza journalist. The count also included 67 minors and 20 women, health officials said.
Rights groups have described the Israeli military’s open-fire regulations as unlawful, saying they permit soldiers to use potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters.
Israel has accused Gaza’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers of using the protests as a cover for attacks and says snipers target only the main “instigators.”
On Friday, most of the demonstrators assembled at five tent camps located several hundred metres from the border fence.
Smaller groups moved closer to the fence, throwing stones, torching tires and burning large Israeli flags, U.S. flags, as well as posters of Israel’s prime minister and defence minister. Large plumes of black smoke from burning tires rose into the sky.
Israeli forces fired tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and live rounds. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said that Palestinians repeatedly tried to damage the border fence, throwing several explosives and fire bombs at it.