Gaza braces for further protests
PROTESTS along the Gaza border with Israel have dwindled after the conflict’s deadliest day in years, but both sides braced for further tensions yesterday after Palestinians called for more demonstrations.
The death toll from Friday’s violence along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel rose by one to 17 yesterday when the health ministry in the enclave confirmed another Palestinian had died from his wounds.
The Islamic Jihad militant group said in a statement that Faris al-Raqib, 29, was a member but that he was not carrying a weapon when he was shot.
In an AFP photo before his injury, Raqib is seen carrying one of the wounded away from the clashes.
Hundreds of other Palestinians were wounded on Friday, many of them by gunfire, when a mass protest of tens of thousands led to clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza border.
The toll prompted the European Union and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation, which Israel has rejected.
Demonstrations along the border since Friday have included only several hundred people, but large crowds may return in the coming days.
Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip and has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, has called for more mass demonstrations.
The protests are in support of Palestinian refugees returning to lands they fled or were expelled from during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
“The Palestinian people are determined to continue the great ‘March of Return’, to free the land and move towards occupied Jerusalem,” senior Hamas member Khalil al-Hayya told a memorial ceremony.
He also vowed that the Islamist group would not disarm. The border area was relatively quiet yesterday morning, but tents erected for the protests remained.
Israel has defended its soldiers’ actions, when they opened fire on Friday on Palestinians who strayed from a main protest camp and approached the heavily fortified fence cutting off the blockaded enclave.
The military said soldiers 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 infiltrate Israel, as well as an attempted gun attack against soldiers along the border.
Palestinians say protesters were shot while posing no threat to soldiers.
In addition to those killed, more than 1 400 were wounded on Friday, 757 by live fire, with the rest hurt by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation, the Gaza health ministry said.