Jordanians Rally on Eve of Great Return March Anniversary

By Staff, Agencies

Thousands of people staged a rally in Jordan to express solidarity with Palestinians as they prepare to mark the first anniversary of the Great March of Return protests.

According to Arabic-language Palestine al-Yawm news agency, they marched through a street in Amman following Friday prayers.

Carrying banners and placards, the demonstrators chanted anti-“Israeli” slogans and strongly condemned attempts by Tel Aviv to consign the issue of Palestine into oblivion. 

They called on the Jordanian government to dismiss the “Israeli” ambassador and recall Amman’s envoy from Tel Aviv.

The protesters also voiced their support for Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups.

On Friday, “Israeli” soldiers and tanks were deployed near the fence separating the occupied territories from the besieged Gaza Strip.

At least nine Palestinians were injured during clashes with “Israeli” soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with the “Israeli” entity.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters that one of the nine Palestinians injured by “Israeli” gunfire was in critical condition.

“Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened on Thursday that Tel Aviv would wage a broad military campaign on Gaza if needed, after a two-day flare-up of cross-border fighting that has left several people injured on both sides.

The Great Return March protests demand the right to return for those driven out of their homeland by “Israeli” aggression. They started on March 30 last year. Tensions have since been running high on the edge of Gaza.

Gazans plan to stage a massive protest on Saturday to commemorate the first anniversary of the demonstrations, in the course of which “Israeli” soldiers have martyred over 260 Palestinians. At least 26,000 Palestinians have also been wounded in the protests, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

A United Nations fact-finding mission has found that “Israeli” forces committed rights violations during their crackdown against the Palestinian protesters in Gaza that may amount to war crimes.