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Tear Gas and Injuries as Palestinians Rally Near Gaza Border Fence With Israel Tear Gas and Clashes as Palestinians Rally Near Gaza Border Fence With Israel
(about 1 hour later)
GAZA — A demonstration by thousands of Palestinians near the Israeli border fence on Saturday against the Israeli-Egyptian blockade turned tense as several people suffered injuries and Israeli forces fired live rounds and tear gas as crowds approached the perimeter. GAZA — Israeli troops fired tear gas and live rounds on Saturday at small crowds of Palestinian activists who had approached the border fence with Israel as tens of thousands of people gathered to commemorate the anniversary of weekly protests in the Gaza Strip, killing one and wounding 13 others, according to Palestinian medical officials.
Hours before the rally began, the Gaza Health Ministry said a Palestinian man, Mohammed Saad, 21, had been shot and killed by Israeli forces at a protest camp near the fence. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Gaza’s Hamas rulers had pledged to keep the crowds at a safe distance from the fence as Egyptian mediators tried to cement a cease-fire agreement. Dozens of volunteers in fluorescent vests were deployed to restrain demonstrators. Ambulances lined up in front of clinics and police supervised encampments erected far from the fence.
The mass rally was to cap a year of demonstrations against the blockade imposed after Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. But as the crowds swelled throughout the afternoon in response to Hamas’s calls for a large turnout, dozens of protesters approached the fence, unfurling Palestinian flags and throwing rocks and explosives toward Israeli soldiers positioned nearby. The Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live fire to disperse the crowds.
Dozens of volunteers in fluorescent vests were deployed to restrain demonstrators from getting too close to the border fence. Ambulances lined up in front of clinics and the police supervised encampments erected far from the fence. Gaza’s Health Ministry said that a 17-year-old protester was killed immediately after being shot in the face in East Gaza City.
Some protesters, however, started approaching the barrier, prompting Israeli forces to respond with tear gas. Marchers also burned a few tires. The Israeli military estimated 40,000 Palestinians had gathered at the marches.
Health officials said 33 Palestinians had been injured as the protests along the border fence began. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 10 people had suffered injuries from live fire coming from Israeli troops. “The rioters are hurling rocks and setting tires on fire. In addition, a number of grenades and explosive devices have been hurled at the Gaza Strip security fence,” it said in a statement. It said soldiers had responded with “riot dispersal means” and firing in line with standard procedures.
The Israeli Army said it had responded with riot dispersal means and live fire “in accordance with standard operating procedures.” Earlier on Saturday, Gaza health officials said Israeli troops had shot and killed a Palestinian man, Mohammed Saad, 21, near the perimeter fence, hours before the mass rally began. Gaza’s Health Ministry said he had been hit in the head by shrapnel.
The army said that some 20,000 Palestinians had gathered along the Gaza fence, and that protesters had hurled stones and explosive devices at the fence and had set tires ablaze. The Israeli Army said that about 200 Palestinians had “rioted during the night along the fence” and that the army had used crowdt dispersal means against them.
It added that most of the demonstrators remained in encampments away from the border fence. Saturday’s protest came at a sensitive time for both Israel and Hamas.
The militant group Hamas, which governs the territory, had hoped that a calmer demonstration would allow for an Egyptian-brokered agreement with Israel to be put in place to ease the economic blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his fourth consecutive term in the country’s April 9 elections, but he is facing a serious challenge from a group of former army chiefs who have criticized what they say is his failed Gaza policy.
Fouad Aishan, 40, came with his five children to the frontier. He said he planned to show his children the Israeli soldiers and return to safety before the march started. In the final stretch of the campaign, Mr. Netanyahu needs to keep the Israel-Gaza frontier quiet without seeming to make concessions to Hamas. He was heavily criticized this past week for what was seen as a soft response to renewed rocket fire out of Gaza.
Hamas, meanwhile, faces growing unrest in Gaza as a result of worsening conditions after more than a decade of Israeli and Egyptian border closings.
The fence protests, which began a year ago, have been aimed in large part at breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza, but have not delivered major improvements.
Fouad Aishan, 40, said came with his five children to the frontier to show them the Israeli soldiers and to return to safety before the protest started.
“I come here driven by personal national motivation,” he said. “It has nothing to do with what the politicians do.”“I come here driven by personal national motivation,” he said. “It has nothing to do with what the politicians do.”
In 2018, weeks of demonstrations that began in March turned deadly, with Israeli soldiers firing across the fence and killing more than 115 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Among then was Razan al-Najjar, 20, a volunteer emergency medical worker. The marches near the fence began a year ago, initially organized by grass-roots activists who were calling for a mass return to their ancestors’ homes in what is now Israel. About two-thirds of Gaza’s two million people are refugees or descendants of refugees who had fled or had been forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s establishment in 1948.
Israel said then that the protesters were being used as cover by militants who intended to attack its soldiers and nearby communities. Hamas quickly took the lead in the protests, using the gatherings to call for an easing of the blockade.
In Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted overwhelmingly to censure Israel. The blockade, imposed after Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, has devastated Gaza’s economy. Unemployment is over 50 percent, ground water has become undrinkable and electricity has turned into an intermittent luxury.
Egypt has been trying to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Palestinians with knowledge of the talks have said that as part of the proposed deal, Gaza protesters were to keep away from the fence on Saturday and Israeli snipers were to hold their fire. The border marches routinely ended in confrontations, with some of the Palestinian demonstrators burning tires, hurling fire bombs or setting off explosives and Israeli troops firing live rounds and tear gas.
According to a Gaza rights group and a count by The Associated Press, 196 Palestinians were killed in the demonstrations over the past year, including 41 minors, and thousands were wounded by live fire. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the context of the marches.
Egypt has repeatedly tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, stepping up efforts in recent days after a rocket from Gaza struck a house in central Israel earlier this week, injuring seven Israelis and threatening to escalate tensions.
Palestinians with knowledge of the talks have said that as part of the proposed deal, Gaza protesters were to keep away from the fence Saturday and Israeli troops were to hold their fire.
Under the Egyptian plan, Israel would offer economic incentives for Gaza in exchange for calm, according to Palestinian officials.
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said the group had received “positive signs” from the Egyptians. He added that the Egyptian team was to return to Israel on Sunday to continue the talks. “We will continue our marches until all our goals are achieved,” he said.
This month, Hamas quelled what have been portrayed as the fiercest protests yet against its mismanagement and failure to improve the internal economic situation.
Hamas blames the blockade and punitive measures by its West Bank-based rival, the Palestinian Authority, for worsening the living conditions.