LATEST: Gaza sees more protests and violence on Nakba Day, after 62 killed
Tuesday marks the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba - or catastrophe - and the culmination of the Great March of Return protests along the Gaza Strip's frontier with Israel.
- Mass protests are expected on Tuesday in besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
- Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians on Monday in protests near the Gaza "security fence", including an eight-month-old baby.
- The US officially moved its embassy to Jerusalem on Monday, which also marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel.
We'll be keeping you updated here throughout the day.
Feel free to leave comments and news tips below; we’re also on Twitter @MiddleEastEye and Facebook.
Mises à jour du direct
Gaza ministry of health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra has issued a list of all identified Palestinians killed by Israeli forces so far today.
- Anas Hamdan Qudeih, 12
- Musab Youssef Abu Laila, 28
- Ubaidah Salem Farhan, 30
- Mohammed Ashraf Abu Sitta, 26
- Izz al-Din Moussa al-Samak, 14
- Izz al-Din Nahid al-Uwaiti, 23
- Bilal Ahmad Abu Daqqa, 26
- Jihad Mufid al-Fara, 30
- Fadi Hassan Abu Salmi, 30
- Ahmad Awadallah, 24
- Mutasim Fawzi Abu Lowli 20
- Mohammad Mahmoud Abdel Aal
- Ahmad Fawzi al-Tatar
- Ahmad Adek Moussa al-Shaar, 16
- Mohammed Abdel Rahman Alaa Meqdad
At least three more slain Palestinians are currently unidentified.
Gaza's health ministry has confirmed that 18 Palestinians have been killed across the Gaza Strip today.
(Source: Gaza health ministry)
The death toll continues to mount with at least 16 dead in hospitals across Gaza, as of 2pm local time.
The Israeli army is reportedly firing live ammunition towards crowds, raising fears that the number of dead will only rise throughout the day.
(Source: Gaza health ministry)
The Gaza ministry of health has identified one more fatality as 30-year-old Jihad Mufid Abdel Munaim al-Farra, who was shot in the chest by Israeli forces east of Khan Younis.
Two earlier casualties remain unidentified.
“The IDF will defend with determination the citizens of the country of Israel and its leadership,” the leaflet reads.
“The IDF is warning you from getting closer to the separation fence [borderline]... For your safety, do not come close to the border/fence and do not cooperate or participate in any of the operations that Hamas is doing and do not expose your lives to danger for nothing."
The full English-translation of the text is below.
Atallah Hanna, the Palestinian Archbishop of Sebastia, in the Greek Orthodox church, told Middle East Eye that Palestinians and the city of Jerusalem are entering a stage of "dangerous escalation" from the US and Israel.
"Palestinians in any place or time, they always spoke of Jerusalem as their capital. The US decision is unprecedented. What encouraged Trump to make it is the unstable situations in the Arab countries," Hanna said.
"If you witnessed how the Israeli settlers cursed on Sunday the religious symbols of Palestinian Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem, you would know that we are witnessing hatred and racism."
Hanna added that Palestinian people would keep demanding their rights, including Jerusalem as their future capital, and the right of return, according to UN resolutions.
"What's happening is a US conspiracy against the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people", he said.
America has forfeited its role in the peace process, Turkey’s president and Palestinian diplomats insisted ahead of the embassy’s inauguration.
"The United States has chosen to be a part of the problem rather than the solution," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech at Britain's Chatham House think tank.
President Mahmoud Abbas’s foreign affairs advisor Nabil Shaath also said: “America’s moving of its embassy means the end of America’s control of the peace process. We will not go back again to an American-led peace process.”
Reuters reported that the Kremlin was concerned Trump’s move could escalate tensions in the Middle East, while a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed the UK has no plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv.
Seven Palestinians, including one child, were killed on the Gaza-Israel border at 1pm local time, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ministry also confirmed that, since this morning, 500 people have been injured by Israeli fire.
Two more Palestinians have been killed on the Gaza-Israel border, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Ministry had yet to identify the additional fatalities.
Another Palestinian was killed in Gaza, the enclave's Minstry of Health reported.
Musab Youssef Ibrahim Abu Laila, 29, was killed east of Jabalia in northern Gaza.
Today's death toll now stands at two killed in Gaza, and 51 killed in demonstrations in the Strip since the beginning of the "Great March of Return" on 30 March.
As the US embassy moves to Jerusalem, our colleague Daniel Hilton has written a brief history of American diplomatic missions in the region.
"If history has taught anything, it is that Trump, a self-styled expert dealmaker, may end up getting more than he bargained for," he writes.
The Gaza ministry of health has reported that one Palestinian was killed east of Khan Younis today, identifying him as 21-year-old Anas Hamdan Qudeih.
Qudeih is the 50th Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli forces during Gaza demonstrations since 30 March.
Thousands of Palestinians have gathered near the security fence separating the besieged Gaza Strip from Israel since the morning, as MEE correspondents on the ground have reported that Israeli forces have heavily fired live ammunition towards the protesters, in addition to tear gas dropped onto the crowds by small drones.
The Gaza ministry of health has already reported at least 27 injured as of noon local time, 22 of whom were shot with live bullets.
