ISRAELI TROOPS KILL AT LEAST 16 PALESTINIANS DURING LAND DAY PROTESTS
Over 1,400 protesters were wounded, the
Palestinian Health Ministry said, most of them hit by live bullets, tear gas
shells, and rubber-coated steel pellets.
At least
16 Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured on Friday by Israeli security
forces confronting one of the largest Palestinian demonstrations along the
Israel-Gaza border in recent years, Gaza medical officials said.
Tens of
thousands of Palestinians, pressing for a right of return for refugees to what
is now Israel, gathered along the fenced 65-km frontier where tents were
erected for a planned six-week protest, local officials said. The Israeli
military estimate was 30,000.
The United
Nations (UN) Security Council was briefed on the violence in Gaza on Friday at
the request of Kuwait. Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the council at
least 17 Palestinian civilians were killed and more than 1,400 injured.
The
council did not decide on any action or joint message after an emergency
meeting Friday evening. Kuwait convened it hours after the bloodiest day in
Gaza since the 2014 cross-border war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic
militant group that rules the coastal strip.
UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an independent investigation into
the deadly clashes.
ANNUAL "LAND DAY" PROTEST
The Palestinian protest marked
"Land Day," an annual commemoration of the deaths of six Arab
citizens of Israel killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations over
government land confiscations in northern Israel in 1976.
The demonstrators demanded that
Palestinian refugees be allowed the right of return to towns and villages which
their families fled from, or were driven out of, when the state of Israel was
created in 1948.
They gathered at multiple sites
throughout the blockaded territory, which is flanked by Israel along its
eastern and northern borders.
Smaller numbers approached within a
few hundreds metres of the heavily fortified border fence, with Israeli troops
using tear gas and live fire to force them back.
TURKEY CONDEMNS ISRAEL
Turkish foreign ministry expressed
outrage over the killings in Gaza, in a statement on Friday.
"We condemn Israel for using
disproportionate forces on peaceful Palestinian demonstrators. We are concerned
for the people who lost their lives and injured in Israeli security forces
intervention," the statement said.
"Israel must stop activities that
increase tension in the region as soon as possible. We invite international
communities to put their utmost effort to dissuade Israel from such
aggression."
HAMAS HAILS TURNOUT
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum praised
the turnout.
"The large crowds ... reflect the
Palestinian people's determination to achieve the right of return and break the
siege and no force can stop this right," he said.
Earlier in the day, before the main
protests began, a Palestinian farmer was killed by Israeli tank fire near the
border, the health ministry said.
The Israeli military said the tank
fire came after "two suspects approached the security fence ... and began
operating suspiciously."
Witnesses said the military had used a
drone in at least one location to drop tear gas.
'INSTIGATORS' BLAMED
The Israeli military said thousands
participated in the clashes, and that troops opened fire at the "main
instigators."
"The rioters are rolling burning
tyres and hurling firebombs and rocks at the security fence and at (Israeli)
troops, who are responding with riot dispersal means and firing towards main
instigators."
Israeli tanks and snipers were
positioned on the other side of the border, using tear gas and live fire to
force back the protesters.
'NO SOLUTION EXCEPT TO RETURN'
Among those taking part on Friday was
Ismail Haniya, the leader of the Hamas that rules Gaza.
"There is no alternative to
Palestine and no solution except to return," he said in a statement,
referring to Palestinian refugees seeking to go back to land they fled or were
expelled from in 1948 that is now inside Israel.
Israel has accused Hamas of seeking to
stir up protests to encourage violence.
PROTEST IN OCCUPIED WEST BANK
There were also small protests in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank.
But the main focus was Gaza, from
which Israeli soldiers and settlers withdrew in 2005 after 38 years.
The Gaza Strip is now ruled by the
Hamas and blockaded by Israel.
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