21 oct 2019
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday closed the border crossings with the Gaza Strip for a Jewish holiday.
According to the border and crossings authority in Gaza, the IOF will keep the commercial crossing of Karam Abu Salem closed until Tuesday morning.
Consequently, no cargo trucks will be allowed into Gaza during the day.
The Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing used for the travel of individuals and patients will also be closed until tomorrow.
The IOF had already closed the same crossings for several days during the current month, October, at the pretext of Jewish holidays.
According to the border and crossings authority in Gaza, the IOF will keep the commercial crossing of Karam Abu Salem closed until Tuesday morning.
Consequently, no cargo trucks will be allowed into Gaza during the day.
The Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing used for the travel of individuals and patients will also be closed until tomorrow.
The IOF had already closed the same crossings for several days during the current month, October, at the pretext of Jewish holidays.
There is a possibility that there will be no indigenous Christians left in the Holy Land - unless Israel ends its occupation of Palestine. This was the urgent message from Palestinian Christian theologians and activists speaking at the Holy Land Conference in Johannesburg last week.
Hosted by The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa (TEASA), which represents almost 4 million Christians who identify as born-again or evangelical, delegates heard first-hand accounts of how Israel’s military occupation and its restrictions on Palestinian movement prevented Christian Palestinians from worshiping at Christianity’s most sacred sites in occupied Jerusalem. Some of these sites are located less than 15km from their homes. Israel’s occupation of Palestine has also effectively deprived Palestinians of access to education, health-care and employment opportunities.
This has led to an exodus of Christian Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Indigenous Christian Palestinians once constituted over 19% of Palestine’s population, and number less than 2 percent today.
According to Shireen Awwad Hilal, the coordinator of Musalaha Women’s Ministry in Bethlehem, the chief cause of the decline in the Christian population of the Holy Land is not due to the persecution of Christians by Muslims. “Many Christians feel that there is little hope for a better future for their children under Israeli occupation, and this has contributed to the growing emigration of Palestinian Christians. Christian Palestinians are under threat from the Israeli occupation – not Islam,” says Awwad Hilal.
Yousef Al-Khouri agrees. “Muslim and Christian Palestinians suffer equally under the Israeli occupation. There is no conflict between Islam and Christianity in Gaza or anywhere else in occupied Palestine. This is not a religious conflict, this is occupation,” says the Gaza-born Biblical Studies lecturer whose family goes back over 900 years in the Greek Orthodox priesthood in Palestine.
According to TEASA secretary-general, Reverend Moss Nthla, the conference and the visit by the Palestinians was a ground-breaking attempt by the evangelical movement in South Africa to introduce an alternative narrative on the Holy Land. The dominant narrative within the evangelical movement is that the creation of the state of Israel was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. This narrative, Nthla says, “weaponizes the Bible against Palestinians and justifies the occupation of Palestine.”
“As Christians, we need to change our role as unwitting collaborators with the oppression of Palestinian people. We must inform and equip ourselves to be part of a solution that has as its aim a just peace in Palestine, rather than being part of the problem,” Nthla explained in an interview with the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service. “South African Christians must be interested in what is happening in Israel/Palestine because it is the place where Jesus Christ was born, lived and died.”
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has condemned Israel’s occupation of Palestine, calling the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel “worse than Apartheid”.
In September, the Anglican and Methodist Churches of Southern Africa resolved to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel until that state ended its military occupation of Palestine.
Hosted by The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa (TEASA), which represents almost 4 million Christians who identify as born-again or evangelical, delegates heard first-hand accounts of how Israel’s military occupation and its restrictions on Palestinian movement prevented Christian Palestinians from worshiping at Christianity’s most sacred sites in occupied Jerusalem. Some of these sites are located less than 15km from their homes. Israel’s occupation of Palestine has also effectively deprived Palestinians of access to education, health-care and employment opportunities.
This has led to an exodus of Christian Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Indigenous Christian Palestinians once constituted over 19% of Palestine’s population, and number less than 2 percent today.
According to Shireen Awwad Hilal, the coordinator of Musalaha Women’s Ministry in Bethlehem, the chief cause of the decline in the Christian population of the Holy Land is not due to the persecution of Christians by Muslims. “Many Christians feel that there is little hope for a better future for their children under Israeli occupation, and this has contributed to the growing emigration of Palestinian Christians. Christian Palestinians are under threat from the Israeli occupation – not Islam,” says Awwad Hilal.
Yousef Al-Khouri agrees. “Muslim and Christian Palestinians suffer equally under the Israeli occupation. There is no conflict between Islam and Christianity in Gaza or anywhere else in occupied Palestine. This is not a religious conflict, this is occupation,” says the Gaza-born Biblical Studies lecturer whose family goes back over 900 years in the Greek Orthodox priesthood in Palestine.
According to TEASA secretary-general, Reverend Moss Nthla, the conference and the visit by the Palestinians was a ground-breaking attempt by the evangelical movement in South Africa to introduce an alternative narrative on the Holy Land. The dominant narrative within the evangelical movement is that the creation of the state of Israel was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. This narrative, Nthla says, “weaponizes the Bible against Palestinians and justifies the occupation of Palestine.”
“As Christians, we need to change our role as unwitting collaborators with the oppression of Palestinian people. We must inform and equip ourselves to be part of a solution that has as its aim a just peace in Palestine, rather than being part of the problem,” Nthla explained in an interview with the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service. “South African Christians must be interested in what is happening in Israel/Palestine because it is the place where Jesus Christ was born, lived and died.”
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has condemned Israel’s occupation of Palestine, calling the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel “worse than Apartheid”.
In September, the Anglican and Methodist Churches of Southern Africa resolved to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel until that state ended its military occupation of Palestine.
20 oct 2019
Israeli soldiers closed, Sunday, the main entrance of Beit Ummar town, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, with concrete blocks, while military police officers ticketed dozens of drivers on the nearby road.
Media activist, Mohammad Awad, said the soldiers closed the at-Touq Street, near Jerusalem-Hebron Road, with concrete blocks, preventing the Palestinians from leaving the town through its main street, or the Central Market road, just to the east of it.
Awad added that Israeli military police officers stopped and searched cars, before issuing high fines on the drivers, and even pedestrians who were walking in the area and trying to cross.
The Palestinians said the permanent presence of the soldiers in the area, especially around the military tower which stands at the main entrance of the town, is always causing traffic jams, and added that the situation becomes even worse when the soldiers start stopping and searching cars.
Media activist, Mohammad Awad, said the soldiers closed the at-Touq Street, near Jerusalem-Hebron Road, with concrete blocks, preventing the Palestinians from leaving the town through its main street, or the Central Market road, just to the east of it.
Awad added that Israeli military police officers stopped and searched cars, before issuing high fines on the drivers, and even pedestrians who were walking in the area and trying to cross.
The Palestinians said the permanent presence of the soldiers in the area, especially around the military tower which stands at the main entrance of the town, is always causing traffic jams, and added that the situation becomes even worse when the soldiers start stopping and searching cars.
19 oct 2019
Israeli forces today closed sections of the Ramallah-Nablus Road, also known as Route 60, to empty the road for dozens of settlers taking part in a marathon at the main traffic artery.
The Israeli military announced that it would erect barriers and close a section of Route 60 from 5:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to allow the settlers’ marathon from the junction of Turmus Ayya village, north of Ramallah, to the junction of Za’tara village.
WAFA correspondent noted that Israeli forces sealed off the main entrance of Salfit and prevented Palestinians from using the main roads to secure the settlers’ marathon.
The marathon caused a heavy traffic jam for Palestinian traffic as Route 60 is the main road for Palestinians traveling from the southern West Bank and the center and north.
Palestinian traffic has to take alternative longer detours, including some unpaved, in order to reach their destinations.
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinians have not been able to travel freely on Route 60, which is spotted with Israeli checkpoints when the road passes from areas under Palestinian control to areas under Israeli military control.
In addition to the checkpoints, Israel has established several ‘bypass roads’, enabling Israeli traffic to bypass areas of Route 60 that passed through Palestinian jurisdiction.
Israeli severely restricts Palestinians’ freedom of movement through a complex combination of approximately 100 fixed checkpoints, flying checkpoints, settler-only roads, and various other physical obstructions.
The Israeli military announced that it would erect barriers and close a section of Route 60 from 5:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to allow the settlers’ marathon from the junction of Turmus Ayya village, north of Ramallah, to the junction of Za’tara village.
WAFA correspondent noted that Israeli forces sealed off the main entrance of Salfit and prevented Palestinians from using the main roads to secure the settlers’ marathon.
The marathon caused a heavy traffic jam for Palestinian traffic as Route 60 is the main road for Palestinians traveling from the southern West Bank and the center and north.
Palestinian traffic has to take alternative longer detours, including some unpaved, in order to reach their destinations.
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinians have not been able to travel freely on Route 60, which is spotted with Israeli checkpoints when the road passes from areas under Palestinian control to areas under Israeli military control.
In addition to the checkpoints, Israel has established several ‘bypass roads’, enabling Israeli traffic to bypass areas of Route 60 that passed through Palestinian jurisdiction.
Israeli severely restricts Palestinians’ freedom of movement through a complex combination of approximately 100 fixed checkpoints, flying checkpoints, settler-only roads, and various other physical obstructions.
18 oct 2019
The release of two new reports point to the severity of the Israeli-imposed crisis on the Gaza Strip, with thousands of Palestinian patients — many of whom have been injured by Israeli gunfire, shells and missiles — unable to access much-needed medicines and treatment due to the ongoing Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
The first report, by Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), reports a rapid and severe increase of bone infections among injured Palestinians.
The group reports:
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is dealing with immense challenges while treating many people who have developed bone infections after having been shot by the Israeli army during protests in Gaza, Palestine over the last year. These infections are adding to the already complicated path to recovery that these injured people must tread. Their serious and complex wounds require months – if not years – of dressing, surgery and physiotherapy. Infections prevent recovery, and to make matters worse, many of them are resistant to antibiotics.
Gunshot wounds prone to infection
“When you have an open fracture, you need lots of things to get better: different types of surgery, physiotherapy, and avoiding the wound becoming infected, which is a high risk with these types of injuries,” explains Aulio Castillo, MSF’s Medical Team Leader in Gaza.
“Unfortunately, for many of our patients who have been shot, the severity and complexity of their wounds – combined with the severe shortage of treatments for them in Gaza – means they have now developed chronic infections.”
“What’s more, we’re finding in preliminary testing that many of these people are infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria,” says Castillo.
Gunshot wounds by their very nature are prone to infection. With a dirty foreign body breaking the skin, it is vital that the wound be cleaned to reduce the risk of infection. With injuries such as those in Gaza, where the wounds are huge, bones are splintered, and treatment is difficult, many wounds stay open long after the injury, meaning the risk of infection is drastically higher.
Antibiotic resistant wounds make treatment much harder
Complicating this is what appear to be very high rates of antibiotic resistant infections there.
These infections have developed an ability to withstand many common antibiotics used to treat them. This often happens because antibiotics have been overused, whether in the community or in the environment, which is a growing problem worldwide.
Antibiotic resistance makes the already difficult task of treating people like Ayman much harder. To get better he needs antibiotics, but with the usual option useless against the resistant infection, he has to take a stronger type that carries a higher risk of side effects. These “heavy-duty” antibiotics are also much more expensive.
In the second report, focused on shortages of essential medicines, Yousef al-Jamal, writing for the Electronic Intifada, states:
Israel’s siege – imposed since 2007 – has affected Gaza’s healthcare system enormously. A new report [pdf] by the World Health Organization states that of the 516 items on Gaza’s essential medicines list, nearly half had less than a month’s stock remaining in 2018. The depletion of stocks had worsened by 15 percent since the previous year, the report adds.
Data from 2019 paint a similarly disturbing picture. During August, stocks of 225 essential medicines held in the central store of Gaza’s health ministry had run out [pdf] by at least 90 percent.
Rana Hussein, a nurse at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, says that more than 60 cancer drugs are unavailable in Gaza. Treatments for diabetes and some kidney complaints are hard to find, too.
“There are 250 patients with thalassemia [a blood disorder] who lack medication,” Hussein said.
Improvements?
Israel’s frequent attacks on Palestinians taking part in protests has also placed considerable burdens on Gaza’s hospitals.
More than 1,000 people who have been injured are awaiting limb reconstruction treatment in Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations’ Middle East envoy, stated last month. Unless such treatment is provided, many limbs could be lost because of infection.
Mladenov has claimed that “some improvements were felt” in Gaza’s economy over the past few months. Unemployment has dropped from 47 percent to 46.7 percent, he said.
The improvements have not been felt by many ordinary people. And human rights monitors have drawn attention to how a new method for calculating unemployment data has been introduced in Palestine.
Gisha, a group campaigning against movement restrictions, has estimated that the real level of unemployment in Gaza has risen since last year.
Mahmoud is a 30-year-old unemployed man. Two of his children – Wissam, 8, and Lina, 7 – have epilepsy.
Wissam can have as many as five seizures per day. He has broken teeth and injured his hands while falling down.
“Impossible to afford”
A dose of levetiracetam – the main drug used to treat epilepsy – costs $150 each for Lina and Wissam per month – when it can be found. “This treatment is often not available in Gaza’s hospitals and pharmacies,” said Mahmoud, who does not have the money to buy the medicines, in any event.
The children’s mother Ghada is trying against the odds to remain optimistic. “After black clouds comes sunshine,” she said.
“I wish it was me [who had epilepsy], not you,” she added, looking at her children.
Imam Abdulrahman, now aged 23, was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2016. Since then he has had an aortic valve replacement operation.
It is vital that he takes regular medication to reduce the risk of a heart attack or a stroke. Like many others in Gaza, he and his family do not have the means to pay his medical bills.
Lacking a fixed job, Abdulrahman does occasional work in construction or as a cleaner.
He mainly relies on welfare payments paid to his father by the Palestinian Authority, headquartered in the occupied West Bank. The payments come to $400 and are only issued every three months.
“This is not enough money,” Abdulrahman said. “It is impossible for me to afford medicine to help me overcome my illness.”
Yousef M. Aljamal is a writer based in Gaza. Twitter: @YousefAljamal.
Additional reporting by Mustapha Aljamal.
The first report, by Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), reports a rapid and severe increase of bone infections among injured Palestinians.
The group reports:
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is dealing with immense challenges while treating many people who have developed bone infections after having been shot by the Israeli army during protests in Gaza, Palestine over the last year. These infections are adding to the already complicated path to recovery that these injured people must tread. Their serious and complex wounds require months – if not years – of dressing, surgery and physiotherapy. Infections prevent recovery, and to make matters worse, many of them are resistant to antibiotics.
Gunshot wounds prone to infection
“When you have an open fracture, you need lots of things to get better: different types of surgery, physiotherapy, and avoiding the wound becoming infected, which is a high risk with these types of injuries,” explains Aulio Castillo, MSF’s Medical Team Leader in Gaza.
“Unfortunately, for many of our patients who have been shot, the severity and complexity of their wounds – combined with the severe shortage of treatments for them in Gaza – means they have now developed chronic infections.”
“What’s more, we’re finding in preliminary testing that many of these people are infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria,” says Castillo.
Gunshot wounds by their very nature are prone to infection. With a dirty foreign body breaking the skin, it is vital that the wound be cleaned to reduce the risk of infection. With injuries such as those in Gaza, where the wounds are huge, bones are splintered, and treatment is difficult, many wounds stay open long after the injury, meaning the risk of infection is drastically higher.
Antibiotic resistant wounds make treatment much harder
Complicating this is what appear to be very high rates of antibiotic resistant infections there.
These infections have developed an ability to withstand many common antibiotics used to treat them. This often happens because antibiotics have been overused, whether in the community or in the environment, which is a growing problem worldwide.
Antibiotic resistance makes the already difficult task of treating people like Ayman much harder. To get better he needs antibiotics, but with the usual option useless against the resistant infection, he has to take a stronger type that carries a higher risk of side effects. These “heavy-duty” antibiotics are also much more expensive.
In the second report, focused on shortages of essential medicines, Yousef al-Jamal, writing for the Electronic Intifada, states:
Israel’s siege – imposed since 2007 – has affected Gaza’s healthcare system enormously. A new report [pdf] by the World Health Organization states that of the 516 items on Gaza’s essential medicines list, nearly half had less than a month’s stock remaining in 2018. The depletion of stocks had worsened by 15 percent since the previous year, the report adds.
Data from 2019 paint a similarly disturbing picture. During August, stocks of 225 essential medicines held in the central store of Gaza’s health ministry had run out [pdf] by at least 90 percent.
Rana Hussein, a nurse at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, says that more than 60 cancer drugs are unavailable in Gaza. Treatments for diabetes and some kidney complaints are hard to find, too.
“There are 250 patients with thalassemia [a blood disorder] who lack medication,” Hussein said.
Improvements?
Israel’s frequent attacks on Palestinians taking part in protests has also placed considerable burdens on Gaza’s hospitals.
More than 1,000 people who have been injured are awaiting limb reconstruction treatment in Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations’ Middle East envoy, stated last month. Unless such treatment is provided, many limbs could be lost because of infection.
Mladenov has claimed that “some improvements were felt” in Gaza’s economy over the past few months. Unemployment has dropped from 47 percent to 46.7 percent, he said.
The improvements have not been felt by many ordinary people. And human rights monitors have drawn attention to how a new method for calculating unemployment data has been introduced in Palestine.
Gisha, a group campaigning against movement restrictions, has estimated that the real level of unemployment in Gaza has risen since last year.
Mahmoud is a 30-year-old unemployed man. Two of his children – Wissam, 8, and Lina, 7 – have epilepsy.
Wissam can have as many as five seizures per day. He has broken teeth and injured his hands while falling down.
“Impossible to afford”
A dose of levetiracetam – the main drug used to treat epilepsy – costs $150 each for Lina and Wissam per month – when it can be found. “This treatment is often not available in Gaza’s hospitals and pharmacies,” said Mahmoud, who does not have the money to buy the medicines, in any event.
The children’s mother Ghada is trying against the odds to remain optimistic. “After black clouds comes sunshine,” she said.
“I wish it was me [who had epilepsy], not you,” she added, looking at her children.
Imam Abdulrahman, now aged 23, was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2016. Since then he has had an aortic valve replacement operation.
It is vital that he takes regular medication to reduce the risk of a heart attack or a stroke. Like many others in Gaza, he and his family do not have the means to pay his medical bills.
Lacking a fixed job, Abdulrahman does occasional work in construction or as a cleaner.
He mainly relies on welfare payments paid to his father by the Palestinian Authority, headquartered in the occupied West Bank. The payments come to $400 and are only issued every three months.
“This is not enough money,” Abdulrahman said. “It is impossible for me to afford medicine to help me overcome my illness.”
Yousef M. Aljamal is a writer based in Gaza. Twitter: @YousefAljamal.
Additional reporting by Mustapha Aljamal.
13 oct 2019
The Israeli occupation authorities on Sunday morning shut down Karam Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun crossings, southeast and north of the Gaza Strip, for Jewish holidays.
The administration of Beit Hanoun crossing announced that it would be closed on Sunday for Palestinians, except for emergencies and VIPs, until 2:00 pm.
A complete closure has been imposed on the West Bank since the early morning hours on Sunday and it is set to last until 21 October.
As for al-Karama crossing with Jordan, the crossing will be opened on Sunday at 7:30 am and closed at 10:30 am. On Monday, 14 October, it will be opened at 7:30 am and closed at 5:00 pm.
The administration of Beit Hanoun crossing announced that it would be closed on Sunday for Palestinians, except for emergencies and VIPs, until 2:00 pm.
A complete closure has been imposed on the West Bank since the early morning hours on Sunday and it is set to last until 21 October.
As for al-Karama crossing with Jordan, the crossing will be opened on Sunday at 7:30 am and closed at 10:30 am. On Monday, 14 October, it will be opened at 7:30 am and closed at 5:00 pm.
9 oct 2019
A Palestinian legislator says 100 percent of factories in the blockaded Gaza Strip has been completely or partially affected by the 14-year-long siege imposed by the Israeli regime on the enclave and successive assaults against the sliver.
Palestinian lawmaker Jamal al-Khudari, who is the head of the Popular Committee against the Siege on Gaza (PCAS), made the remarks, saying the occupying regime is deliberately targeting the Palestinian economy, especially the industrial sector.
He said Tel Aviv is still imposing restrictions on the entry of industrial materials into the besieged territory under the pretext of dual use, the Palestine Information Center quoted him as saying.
Khudari, who is originally an academic and businessman, also pointed out that these measures have exacerbated the suffering of factory owners, workers and technicians.
According to the Palestinian legislator, the direct and indirect losses inflicted on Gaza, including on such sectors as industry, commerce, agriculture and business, are estimated to be at $70 million every month.
Khudari also affirmed that 3,500 factories had already shut down in the sliver, whose poverty rate has reached 85 percent and its unemployment rate exceeded 60 percent.
He stressed that removing the blockade is the only solution to end the suffering of Gazans, calling on the international community to exert more effort to pressure Tel Aviv to lift its crippling siege.
The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since June 2007. It has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.
The occupying regime has imposed three major wars against Gaza, killing thousands of people each time and shattering the impoverished territory’s already poor infrastructure.
The economic situation across Palestinian lands worsened after the US earlier this year cut all its financial aid for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The cuts in the humanitarian aid were soon hitting hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people, especially in Gaza, where 80 percent are dependent on aid.
Palestinians have held weekly rallies along the Gaza fence to protest the siege on the enclave and demand the right for the refugees, who were forced to leave during the 1948 creation of Israel, to return to their homes.
Some 310 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since the anti-occupation protest rallies began in Gaza on March 30, 2018. Over 16,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.
Palestinian lawmaker Jamal al-Khudari, who is the head of the Popular Committee against the Siege on Gaza (PCAS), made the remarks, saying the occupying regime is deliberately targeting the Palestinian economy, especially the industrial sector.
He said Tel Aviv is still imposing restrictions on the entry of industrial materials into the besieged territory under the pretext of dual use, the Palestine Information Center quoted him as saying.
Khudari, who is originally an academic and businessman, also pointed out that these measures have exacerbated the suffering of factory owners, workers and technicians.
According to the Palestinian legislator, the direct and indirect losses inflicted on Gaza, including on such sectors as industry, commerce, agriculture and business, are estimated to be at $70 million every month.
Khudari also affirmed that 3,500 factories had already shut down in the sliver, whose poverty rate has reached 85 percent and its unemployment rate exceeded 60 percent.
He stressed that removing the blockade is the only solution to end the suffering of Gazans, calling on the international community to exert more effort to pressure Tel Aviv to lift its crippling siege.
The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since June 2007. It has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.
The occupying regime has imposed three major wars against Gaza, killing thousands of people each time and shattering the impoverished territory’s already poor infrastructure.
The economic situation across Palestinian lands worsened after the US earlier this year cut all its financial aid for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The cuts in the humanitarian aid were soon hitting hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people, especially in Gaza, where 80 percent are dependent on aid.
Palestinians have held weekly rallies along the Gaza fence to protest the siege on the enclave and demand the right for the refugees, who were forced to leave during the 1948 creation of Israel, to return to their homes.
Some 310 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since the anti-occupation protest rallies began in Gaza on March 30, 2018. Over 16,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.
