Dozens Injured in 2019’s Last Great March of Return Protests on Gaza Border

Dozens Injured in 2019’s Last Great March of Return Protests on Gaza Border

Over 310 Palestinians have been killed and about 18,000 others injured by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the Great March of Return protests at Gaza border on March 30, 2018.

Scores of Palestinians were injured on Friday by bullet fire as Israeli forces attacked dozens of protesters taking part in the weekly Great March of Return at Gaza-Israel border, according to medical sources.

Soldiers manning the Gaza perimeter fence fired live bullets and rubber-coated steel rounds at the protesters who gathered at many encampments along the border, injuring dozens of protesters.

The Commission of the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege of Gaza said the weekly March of Return protests will be suspended for a period of three months.

The committee added that the protests are expected to resume on a monthly basis starting April, as opposed to taking place weekly as they have previously.

“The decision was made following rounds of dialogues and debates that have been going on for several weeks,” the commission said in a statement.

Over 310 Palestinians have been killed and about 18,000 others injured by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the Great March of Return protests at Gaza border on March 30, 2018.

The weekly protests call for lifting the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and for the return of the Palestinian refugees to their ancestral homes in pre-1948 Palestine.

Israel rejects any such return, saying that it would eliminate its Jewish majority.

Demonstrators also demand an end to Israel’s 13-year-old blockade around the Gaza Strip, which has shattered the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its two million inhabitants of free movement in and out of the enclave, preventing the entry of basic amenities.

Israel has repeatedly used live ammunition against the unarmed protesters during the Great March of Return. Israeli soldiers have also targeted clearly identified medics, journalists and other civilians during the regular protests, crimes which are likely to be investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

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