1,100 Palestinians hurt as Israeli forces fire shots, tear gas at Gaza protesters

GAZA CITY, Palestine — Six Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire near border of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to the Health Ministry.

In a statement, ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qidra said two children and a medic were among those injured by Israeli gunfire, Anadolu news agency reported.

One of the injured Palestinians was in a serious condition, the spokesman said.

The Israeli forces, for its part, said in a statement its forces spotted a number of Palestinians while crossing a security fence on Gaza border to do an act of “sabotage”.

The military said Israeli forces opened fire on them and forced them to retreat, Anadolu said.

For the last five weeks, Gazans have staged mass rallies along the strip’s eastern border to demand the “right of return” to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

On Friday, Israeli forces fired live rounds and tear gas at Palestinians who thronged the Gaza-Israel frontier and rampaged at a border terminal as part of the long-running protest, injuring about 1,100 people, Reuters reported.

Medics said around 82 people were shot and wounded with live fire, another 800 treated for gas inhalation and the rest for other injuries along the Gaza side of the 40km border fence, where Palestinians set up tent encampments on March 30 for what they call “The Great March of Return”.

Youths rolled burning tyres to within 300 metres of the fence, trying to use the smoke as cover for throwing stones across it while eluding Israeli snipers. Army gunfire has killed at least 43 Palestinians on the frontier over the last month, according to Reuters. 

Protesters said they used slingshots to down two small Israeli observation drones. The army confirmed the drone losses.

Hundreds of Palestinians entered Kerem Shalom, an industrial crossing point on the border. One of them said over social media that they had “torched rooms used by the occupation”.

The Israeli army issued footage showing fires at Kerem Shalom, but said the damage was limited to the Palestinian side.

“The rioters are damaging the pipes that carry fuel and gas from Israel into the Gaza Strip,” the army said in a statement.

Facing international censure over its use of live fire in the protests, the Israeli army says it is protecting its border and takes such action only when protesters, some hurling firebombs and trying to plant explosives, approach too closely.

On Friday, troops faced “10,000 Palestinians participating in riots in six locations along the Gaza Strip border”, it said.

As Israel celebrates its 70th birthday, Palestinians mourn what they call the “Nakba” (Catastrophe) of their people’s mass dispossession during the conflict that broke out in 1948.