New Gaza protests on Israel border after deadly violence
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Several thousand Gazans gathered for a third consecutive Friday of mass protests along the border with Israel after violence in which Israeli forces have killed 33 Palestinians and wounded hundreds of others.
The protests since March 30 have posed a challenge to Israel, which has dismissed criticism of its use of live fire, saying its rules of engagement are necessary and will not change.
Organisers were calling on Friday’s demonstrators to burn Israeli flags and raise Palestinian ones.
Several thousand had already gathered at various locations, but the largest crowds were expected in the afternoon after the main weekly Muslim prayers.
Two Gazans appeared to have been wounded by Israeli fire as protesters burned tyres near the fence east of Gaza City.
At a protest camp there, a large Israeli flag was placed on the ground for demonstrators to walk on.
In the northern Gaza Strip, Sumaya Abu Awad, 36, attended the protest with her three daughters and son.
“I am from the village of Hiribya and it is my right to return to it,” she said, referring to a village north of Gaza destroyed in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
“I am not afraid of death because there is no life in Gaza already.”
Last week, protesters burned mounds of tyres, sending plumes of smoke into the air in the border area. Israeli soldiers used large fans in a bid to push the smoke away.
The protests, planned to last six weeks, are calling for Palestinian refugees to return to their former homes that are now inside Israel – which Israelis say essentially amounts to calling for the country’s destruction.
The first two Fridays – with far less on intervening days – saw tens of thousands gather near the border with Israel at five locations.
Smaller numbers approached the fence, throwing stones and rolling burning tyres toward soldiers taking up positions on the other side.
Israel accuses Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza and with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of using the protests as cover to carry out violence.