Calls for revenge as Gazans bury dead
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gazans buried their dead on Saturday with calls for ‘revenge’ a day after a mass protest led to clashes that saw Israeli forces kill 16 Palestinians in the bloodiest day since a 2014 war.
The angry funeral scenes came as the United States blocked a draft UN Security Council statement urging restraint and calling for an investigation into the clashes.
Only several hundred protesters returned to tents erected at sites near the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel to resume demonstrations planned to last six weeks in the blockaded enclave.
On the diplomatic front, UN chief Antonio Guterres and European Union diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini called for an ‘independent and transparent investigation’ into Israel’s use of live ammunition.
But a motion put forward before the UN Security Council by Kuwait late Saturday calling for such a move was rejected by the United States, a Security Council diplomat told AFP.
Israel defended the army fire at Palestinians who broke away from the main protest of tens of thousands and neared the heavily fortified fence around the Gaza Strip.
“Well done to our soldiers. Israel acts vigorously and with determination to protect its sovereignty and the security of its citizens,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a statement Saturday.
An Israeli military spokesman said Friday’s events were ‘not a protest demonstration’ but ‘organised terrorist activity’ by Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.
“If it continues, we shall have no choice but to respond inside the Gaza Strip against terrorist targets which we understand to be behind these events,” said Brigadier General Ronen Manelis.
Gaza’s health ministry said 35 people suffered wounds that were not life-threatening in lowlevel clashes along the border on Saturday.
Thousands attended funerals for 14 of those killed — two were buried on Friday — with mourners holding Palestinian flags and some chanting ‘revenge’ and firing into the air.
The armed wing of Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, said five of those killed were its members who were participating ‘in popular events side-by-side with their people’.
The Israeli army said in a statement Saturday night that 10 of the dead had ‘documented terror backgrounds’ in Hamas and other groups and were killed ‘whilst carrying out acts of terror’.
In addition to the 16 Palestinians killed, more than 1,400 were wounded Friday, 758 of them by live fire, with the remainder hurt by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
The Israeli military says its forces opened fire only when necessary against those throwing stones and firebombs or rolling tyres at soldiers.
It said there were attempts to damage the fence and break through into Israel, as well as an attempted gun attack against troops.
No casualties were reported among Israelis.
Palestinians accused Israel of using disproportionate force, saying its soldiers opened fire on protesters who did not pose a threat, while human rights groups questioned Israel’s use of live fire.
Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a scornful rejection of demands for a probe.
“I do not understand the chorus of hypocrites who want a commission of inquiry,” he posted in Hebrew on his Twitter account.
“They got confused and thought Hamas organised a Woodstock Festival yesterday and that we should give them flowers.”
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas declared Saturday a day of national mourning and in a speech said he held Israel fully responsible for the deaths.
The six-week protest is in support of Palestinian refugees and the timetable holds significance for a range of reasons that have added to tensions.
It began on Land Day, when Palestinians commemorate the killing of six unarmed Arab protesters in Israel in 1976.
Protests will continue until the United States opens its new Jerusalem embassy around May 14, a move that has enraged Palestinians, who see the city’s annexed eastern sector as the capital of their future state. — AFP
Well done to our soldiers. Israel acts vigorously and with determination to protect its sovereignty and the security of its citizens. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister