Palestinians in Gaza mark Easter amid border clashes
Israel rejects any probe into use of live ammunition by its forces
Palestinians in Gaza held low- key Easter celebrations yesterday after experiencing the most violent week since a 2014 Israeli assault on the enclave, which left around 2,000 people dead.
On Friday, 16 Palestinian protesters were shot dead by Israeli occupation forces and more than 1,000 injured while gathering along Gaza’s frontier with Israel. Friday’s mass marches were the beginning of a six- week- long protest campaign against a stifling decadeold blockade of the territory.
Protests are aiming to culminate in a large border march on May 15, the 70th anniversary of Israel founding. Israel vowed to strike inside Gaza if violence along the territory’s border with Israel drags on.
Yesterday, renewed clashes erupted on the border resulting in injuries of several Palestinians.
The EU’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini called for an independent and transparent investigation into the use of live ammunition by Israel’s military. Israel has rejected any probe and the US, Israel’s chief ally, blocked a UN Security Council resolution calling for an investigation.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis in his Easter sermon, said the Holy Land was “also experiencing... the wounds of ongoing conflict that do not spare the defenceless” in reference to the violence in Gaza.
The United States on Saturday blocked a draft UN Security Council statement urging restraint and calling for an investigation of clashes on the Gaza border that left 16 dead, diplomats said.
Clashes erupted as tens of thousands of Gazans protested near the border on Friday, with Israeli occupation forces using tear gas and live fire to force back smaller numbers of demonstrators who approached within a few hundred metres of the heavily fortified border fence.
In addition to the 16 Palestinians killed, more than 1,400 were wounded, 758 of them by live fire, with the remainder hurt by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation, according to the Gazan health ministry.
Kuwait, which represents Arab countries on the council, presented the proposed statement, which called for an “independent and transparent investigation” of the violence.
The draft council statement also expressed “grave concern at the situation at the border.”
And it reaffirmed “the right to peaceful protest” and expressed the council’s “sorrow at the loss of innocent Palestinian lives.”
The draft statement was circulated to the council on Friday, but on Saturday the United States raised objections and said it did not support its adoption, a Security Council diplomat told AFP.
The proposed statement also called “for respect for international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including protection of civilians,” according to the draft seen by AFP.
Council members “called upon all sides to exercise restraint and prevent a further escalation,” the draft said.
The proposed statement stressed the need to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians based on a twostate solution.
Under the administration of US President Donald Trump, the US has taken an increasingly hawkish stance at the United Nations — accusing it of “unfairly” targeting Israel.