Palestinians stuck at a checkpoint. Picture by Global Exchange. Used with permission. On Friday March 30, over 30,000 Palestinians peacefully approached the border area of the Gaza strip to bring attention to their unfulfilled right of return to their families homes inside Israel and to highlight the ongoing plight of living under Israeli occupation. Israeli military forces responded with lethal force, deploying troops, drones, tanks, and snipers who fired on the crowds using live fire, rubber-coated steel pellets, and tear gas.
By the end of the day, fifteen Palestinians had been killed - many of them plainly unarmed - and over 1,000 wounded. By the end of the following week, 31 Palestinian lives had been taken, including that of journalist Yaser Murtaja who was hit despite wearing a blue jacket marked with the word "press.” Israeli snipers have shot and wounded five other Palestinian journalists.
March 30th was to mark the start of a of a six-week mobilization leading up to the 70th anniversary of the (Nakba) day in 1948 when the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians began following the declaration of the State of Israel. It is now the most deadly day in Gaza since heavy Israeli airstrikes ended in 2014.
