Palestinian protester killed, 22 others hurt as hundreds protest at Gaza border

A young Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli fire and another 22 sustained gunshot wounds as hundreds of people staged demonstrations in multiple spots along the border between the besieged Gaza Strip and Israeli-occupied territories for the 44th consecutive Friday. 

The spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, named the dead man as 25-year-old Ehab Atallah Hussein Abed, stating that he was fatally shot east of the border town of Rafah, located 30 kilometers south of Gaza City, during a “Great March of Return” protest rally.

He added that 22 civilians, including 14 children, were struck with live bullets while dozens of others suffered tear gas inhalation.

Qidra went on to say that Israeli military forces directly targeted an ambulance, leaving six Palestinian paramedics and a photo journalist injured. Medic Yousef Zino was treated for a wound after a tear gas canister hit him in the hand.

Palestinian source, requesting anonymity, said 15 civilians, among them two children, were injured by Israeli live fire. One of the minors was struck in the foot while another was hit in the pelvis. 

Six other protesters were admitted to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. One of them is said to be in a critical condition. 

Moreover, dozens of Palestinian demonstrators suffered excessive tear gas inhalation east of Rafah and Jabalia after Israeli forces sought to suppress anti-occupation protests.

Palestinians have held weekly protests on the Gaza border, over the siege on the enclave and the right for refugees to return to their homes they were forcibly expelled from during the 1948 creation of Israel.

Nearly 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30. Over 26,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.

The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14 last year, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

On June 13, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by Turkey and Algeria, condemning Israel for Palestinian civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.

The resolution, which had been put forward on behalf of Arab and Muslim countries, garnered a strong majority of 120 votes in the 193-member assembly, with eight votes against and 45 abstentions.

The resolution called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to make proposals within 60 days “on ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection, and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation,” including “recommendations regarding an international protection mechanism.”

It also called for “immediate steps towards ending the closure and the restrictions imposed by Israel on movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip.”

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