Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, appearing at the tent camps last Friday, presented the march as a rebuke to the United States peace effort and said it marks the beginning of the Palestinian return to all of what is now Israel.
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“Hamas should focus instead on desperately needed improvements to the lives of Palestinians in Gaza instead of inciting violence against Israel that only increases hardship and undermines chances for peace”, Greenblatt tweeted.
Palestinians have set up tent camps along the entire length of the Gaza Strip. A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the violence would end if Hamas, an Islamist group that controls Gaza, would step up. “Israel acts with vigor and determination in order to protect its sovereignty and the safety of its citizens”.
More than 1,500 others were wounded on Friday’s protest when Israeli forces fired live ammunition at protesters to push them back from Gaza’s border area, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Smaller groups moved closer to the fence, throwing stones or burning tires. Soldiers with rifles were perched on earthen embankments overlooking the scene. Backed by Hamas and other militant and political Palestinian factions, larger gatherings are expected every Friday, the holy day for Muslims. Video released by the army appeared to show fewer actually engaged in direct violence.
IDF Spokesman and Israel Brig.
“Such a counterproductive stance can render them [the United Kingdom and the US] complicit in Israel’s military occupation and in its persistent violations and violence”, she continued.
“Israeli soldiers did what was necessary”. While some of those injured said they were just there to demonstrate, two of those injured said they were among groups that carried wire cutters and hoped to penetrate the barrier.
“Israeli allegations of violence by some protesters do not change the fact that using lethal force is banned by global law except to meet an imminent threat to life”, the New York-based group said.
Hamas said five of them were members of its armed wing.
Another man said he had been shot trying to lift a Palestinian flag that had fallen over on the Gazan side. He said the injured included 11 women and 70 children under 18.
He said 40 surgeries were performed Friday and that 50 were planned Saturday. The bullet cut through blood vessels and broke a bone. One leg was wrapped in bandages and the other had a cast and metal fixtures.
At his bedside, Bashar’s father said he had no idea his son had gone to the protest.
On March 30, Palestinians were commemorating the 42nd anniversary of Land Day, when six Palestinian protesters were gunned down by Israeli forces in 1976, as they were protesting the Israeli government confiscation of Palestinian land.
Israel has warned it will not allow the border to be breached. “We will not cooperate with any inquiry of this kind”, he said.
Israel rejected allegations of excessive force, saying it defended its border against what it claims is a Hamas attack under the guise of mass protests. The continued closure has made it increasingly hard for Hamas to govern. The closure has worsened economic conditions in the Gaza Strip, which suffers from rising unemployment, high rates of poverty and frequent power shortages.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday on CNN that it was a “difficult situation”, but added that his “assessment is that Israel overreacted” in terms of the violence meted out toward Palestinian protesters.
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Hundreds of others were reportedly wounded, many of them by live fire, leading to calls for an independent investigation by the European Union and the UN’s secretary-general, Antonio Guterres. The council didn’t decide on any action or joint message after an emergency meeting Friday evening.
