Fires near the Gaza border seen in background of Nakba Day protests 2019. (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)
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Some 50 Palestinians were injured and nine fires broke out in southern Israel as protests marking Nakba Day began on Wednesday afternoon along the border fence between Gaza and Israel.
According to Palestinian reports, 22-year-old fisherman Murad al-Hisi from the al-Shati refugee camp was shot by rubber bullets from an IDF navy vessel as he was taking part in a naval protest in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. He was taken to hospital for medical care.
Several incendiary balloons were launched from the blockaded coastal enclave into southern Israel, sparking fires in agricultural fields outside the border communities of Nahal Oz and Alumim.
Palestinian media also reported IDF firing live bullets, tear gas and skunk spray at protesters trying to damage the border fence with Israel.
Similar to Land Day protests in March, Hamas has placed members in orange vests between protesters and the security fence, in an attempt to restrain the violence as part of the ceasefire agreement it made with Israel.
Thousands of Gazans are taking part in the demonstrations, with the organizing committee of the weekly “Great March of Return” protests calling for a general strike on Wednesday, calling on them to join marches along the border with Israel.
Schools have also been closed by Hamas to allow students to join the demonstrations.
The IDF has deployed additional snipers and hundreds of troops in main friction spots along the Gaza border fence in anticipation of violent riots during Nakba Day (“Catastrophe” Day) marking the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
Additional Iron Dome batteries, which were deployed across southern Israel during the recent deadly violence between the IDF and terror groups in the Strip, remain operational.
With demonstrations expected across the West Bank and Jerusalem, Ynet news reported that hundreds of additional Border Police officers have been deployed to Jerusalem’s Old City, several east Jerusalem neighborhoods and the crossing between Israel and the West Bank.
Nakba Day is marked every year with demonstrations and violent clashes in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank; last year over 60 Palestinians were killed by IDF fire in violent clashes.
The border protests began last March and have seen over half a million people violently demonstrating along the security fence, demanding an end to the 12-year-long blockade. Between several thousand to 45,000 congregate at points along the border range every day.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 305 Palestinians, including 59 children and 10 women, were killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the Great Return marches.
Another 17,335 suffered various injuries, including 3,565 children and 1,168 women.
This year, Nakba Day comes a week after a two-day escalation of hostilities between Israel and terror groups in the Strip, which saw close to 700 rockets fired by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, killing four Israeli civilians. In retaliation, Israel struck hundreds of targets in the coastal enclave, killing 25 Palestinians.
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