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Scenes. Published by PCHR
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by Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

On 76th Friday of Great March of Return, A Palestinian civilian was killed and 86 civilians were injured as a result of the Israeli military’s continued use of excessive force against the peaceful protests along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border; 22 children, 4 female paramedics, 5 male paramedics and 2 persons with disabilities were among those injured this Friday, 27 September 2019.

This week witnessed an escalation in the use of excessive force against the proesters as injury of 5 of them deemed serious; one died after hours of his injury while 4, including a child and a female paramedic, are still in a very serious condition. Further, 40 protestors were shot with live bullets while the Israeli forces escalated their attacks against the medical personnel, which enjoys protection under the international humanitarian law, wounding 9 paramedics, including a female paramedic deemed in a very critical condition.

The Supreme National Authority of Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege called for today’s protests under the slogan “al-Aqsa Intifada and Palestinian Prisoners”, coinciding with the 19th anniversary of al-Aqsa Intifada.

The protests lasted from 15:00 to 19:00 and involved activities such as speeches by political leaders and theatrical performances. Hundreds of civilians protested at varied distances from the border fence across the Gaza Strip. Protestors, who were near the border fence or hundreds of meters away from it, threw stones, Molotov Cocktails and firecrackers at the Israeli forces, who responded with excessive force. As a result, dozens of civilians were directly shot while other suffocated due to tear gas inhalation.

PCHR documented 212 killings by Israel since the outbreak of the protests on 30 March 2018, including 46 children, 2 women, 9 persons with disabilities, 4 paramedics and 2 journalists. Additionally, 14,056 were wounded, including 3,020 children, 429 women, 244 paramedics and 215 journalists, noting that many of those injured had sustained multiple injuries on separate occasions.

The following is a summary of today’s events along the Gaza Strip border:

Northern Gaza Strip:

Hundreds of civilians participated in Abu Safiyah area protests, northeast of Jabalia. Speeches, theatrical performances and other segments were performed at the protest central encampment.

Dozens of protestors approached the border fence, threw stones as well as firecrackers at the Israeli soldiers, who responded with live and rubber bullets and tear gas canisters.

As a result, 22 civilians injured, including 10 children; 2 paramedics, 2 persons with disabilities. Among those injured, 8 were shot with live bullets and their shrapnel; 8 were hit with tear gas canisters; and 6 were shot with rubber bullets.

The injured paramedics were identified as ‘Atef Mohammed ‘Ali al-‘Arbid (48), a Civil Defense paramedic who was shot with a rubber bullet to the face, causing a fracture to the upper jaw; and Mohammed Husni ‘Abdulatif al-Haw (23), a Military Medical Services paramedic, who was shot with a rubber bullet to the left hand and treated in the medical point. Meanwhile, the persons with disabilities were identified as Saber ‘Ali ‘Abdel Qader al-Ashqar (37), a double amputee who was shot with a rubber bullet in the left arm; and Mohammed Nabil ‘Abdullah al-Zaharnah (24), a deaf who was shot with a live bullet to the abdomen.

Read full report here

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