For the fifth week in a row, thousands of Palestinians protested along the separation fence around the Gaza Strip in what is named “the Friday of the Revolting youth,” according to the Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV. Palestinian activists said that the protestors had demanded the recognition of the Palestinian people “right of return.”
The Israeli Army responded to the protests by deploying snipers along the separation fence. Palestinian sources also reported that the Israeli army had actively used tear gas and rubber bullets against the protestors.
According to the Health Minister of Palestine, Israeli Army snipers killed three protestors near the separation fence. 168 others were reportedly injured by the Israeli Army.
Ismail Haniyeh, a political leader of the Palestinian Hamas Movement, participated in the protests for the second time. During the protests, Haniyeh said in a speech to the protestors that large demonstrations will be organized on March 15, the independence day of Israel, that’s known in the Arab World as “Nakba Day.”
“Our Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, the interior and the diaspora will stand on May 15th one man’s stand to say that we are going back to our country [Palestine],” Haniyeh told the protestors, according to the official website of Hamas Movement.
The Israeli Army has killed 41 Palestinian protestors and injured more than 5,000 others since the outbreak of the protests on March 30. Observers believe that these protests are a direct result of the US decision to recognize the city of Jerusalem as Israeli’s capital.
