16 dead as thousands of Gazans march near Israel border

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Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Friday flocked to the border with Israel marking Land Day, to confirm their right of return to their towns and villages from which they were forced out in 1948.

Sixteen protesters were killed and more than 1,500 were wounded by Israeli forces in a major demonstration marking the 42nd anniversary of Land Day.

Hundreds of Palestinians pass by tents set up on their way to the Gaza Strip border with Israel, March 30, 2018. /CGTN Photo

Massive crowds marched near the Israeli border since the early hours of Friday morning. Some of the demonstrators burned tires and hurled stones at Israeli soldiers, prompting them to strike back with live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear bombs.

The International Coordinating Committee of the “Great Return March” announced that the events of the demonstration beginning March 30 until May 15, would take place in five different spots positioned along the coastal territory’s border with Israel.

Palestinian children stand in front of a panel that refers to the names of Palestinian villages in Israel, March 30, 2018. /CGTN Photo

May 15 marks Nakba (catastrophe) Day for Palestinians. On that day in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their property in what is now Israel. The US decision to choose the same date to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was provocative to the feelings of Palestinians, PA officials said.

Palestinian demonstrators on the east of Gaza City at the border with Israel, March 30, 2018. /CGTN Photo

Despite organizers calling for the march to be peaceful, Israeli forces used excessive force against the protesters fearing that the march was an attempt to breach its territory. “We want to send a message to the US administration that its plans aimed at implementing the 'deal of the century' and eradicating the Palestinians’ right of return, will not pass. The US administration must know that the Palestinians will not give up their rights over the years,” Salah Abdel Ati, one of the organizers told CGTN.

Palestinian demonstrators on the east of Gaza City at the border with Israel, March 30, 2018. /CGTN Photo

As part of the preparations for the march, organizers erected hundreds of tents bearing the names of Palestinian villages and towns some 500 meters away from the Israeli frontier, to host the protestors who attended from across the Gaza Strip. CGTN met with Mahmoud Madi, a Palestinian protestor who came with his wife and children to participate in the march, and asked him what was different about commemorating Land Day this year.

The Palestinian refugee Mahmoud Madi and his family are at the eastern border of Gaza with Israel, March 30, 2018. /CGTN Photo

“Everybody must attend this year to relay our message to Israel and the US administration, that all their policies and decisions against us the Palestinians will not make us relinquish our right to return to our homes in historic Palestine, this must be as clear as the sun to all politicians.”

A Palestinian Red Crescent medical worker transports a man from the Gaza Strip border to hospital, March 30, 2018. /CGTN Photo

Eighty-five-year-old Nimir Wadi, who was forced out with his family from their hometown Al-Mahraka when he was 16, seemed hopeful about returning to his village one day. “I came here with my family and grandchildren to teach them that they must commit to the right of return,” Madi said, adding that he had drawn a map for his family pointing out his village.

Palestinian Nimir Wadi with his wife and grandchildren at the eastern Gaza border with Israel, March 30, 2018. /CGTN Photo

Palestinians orchestrated this march to push for a practical implementation of the UN resolution No 194 dated 11 December 1948, which calls for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes from which they were expelled seventy years ago.

Friday’s march came amid the unclear atmosphere surrounding the future of the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Practically, the PA has suspended negotiations with the Israelis and further more frozen communications with the US administration, saying it can no longer be an honest peace broker. Moreover, Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his plans for moving the embassy to Jerusalem has angered the Palestinians, and opened doors for a new confrontation between Hamas and Israel.