3 Palestinians dead as thousands protest in 'day of rage' in Gaza
Following the call from Hamas and Islamic Jihad for a “day of rage”, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza Strip have protested along the border with Israel on Friday. Two Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces, and one who was injured by Israeli forces last week has died of his wounds, local media has reported.
Regularly for the past week, dozens, sometimes hundreds of people have been gathering in the border area, east of the Shujiaiya neighberhood in Gaza City, reaching as close as 50 meters from the border fence.
On Friday, after the noon prayers, people started to gather at entrance of a road leading to the border area where protests have been taking place. Despite the earlier call for demonstrations, local security forces tried to prevent people from demonstrating near the border fence in eastern Shujjaiya. “We are not stopping anyone from protesting. But we are concerned for the safety of our citizens. Since additional Israeli soldiers have been placed along the border, especially in Nahal Oz area, we tried to convince people to go protest in other places” said the head of a nearby checkpoint, who introduced himself as major Abu Ahmed. Despite the road block, groups of young man reached the border through another route and few hours later the road was re-opened.
“We stopped relaying on stone throwing 15 years ago. Now, more efficient way of resistance are rockets,” Abu Ahmed added. But young man who took part in Friday protests seemed to disagree. “We cannot remain silent, when our people are being killed in the West Bank and Jerusalem” said Mahmoud Masoud, 22-year-old from Jabalia refugee camp. He joined dozens of people who reached the border areas through fields, north of the usual place of demonstrations. “This time it's not about Gaza, it's an act of solidarity” he said, adding that being injured or shot is absolutely a worthy sacrifice. As he was speaking, Israeli soldiers, hiding behind a mound of dirt started shooting tear gas at sparsely gathered protesters.
“We hope that our protests will force the Israelis to think twice before shooting someone in the West Bank,” 19-year-old Ali told Middle East Eye, standing roughly 200 meters from the fence, near the Israeli kibbutz of Nahal Oz . He was accompanied by 18-year old Amir Salim, who has been already injured in his chest and leg during the Tuesday protests in the same place and insisted on coming back.
While thousands of people gathered along the road, only a few hundred stood at the fence. Israeli soldiers shot tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition at the protesters.
At the main hospital in Gaza city, Shifa, dozens of people awaited news on their injured relatives. Umm Ramzi, a middle-aged woman from Shujiaiya, told MEE she was there, because her teenage son, Zakariya was shot in his leg. After an hour of waiting at the door of the hospital, where ambulances kept on arriving with more and more injured, the mother still did not know how serious was her son's medical condition. “I would never stop him from protesting, not even after he got injured. This is our fate. We live in a country of protests” she added. The family has more than one reason to protest – Um Ramzi's husban was shot by an Israeli soldier during the second intifada, which left him permanently disabled. During the 2014 Israeli offensive on Gaza Strip, their family home in Shujjaiya was bombed.
According to statements released by the spokesperson of Health Ministry in Gaza, Ashrif al-Kidra, as of 5:35 pm there were nearly hundred injuries and two people were killed: Yehiya Abdel Qader Farahat and Mahmoud Hatem Hamida. Farahat was shot during the protest at Erez border crossing and Hamida – in eastern Shajjaiya.