Great Return March 2019: ‘Israeli’ Forces Attack Final Round in Gaza

By Staff, Agencies

‘Israeli’ occupation forces attacked Palestinians taking part in the final round of protests held on a weekly basis near the fence separating the Gaza Strip from the Occupied Territories this year, leaving a number of protesters injured.

Palestinian media outlets reported that the Zionist forces shot and injured protesters in the east of Jabalia and the east of Khan Yunis on Friday.

Tens of Palestinians also suffered from suffocation due to inhaling tear gas used by the ‘Israeli’ troops in the eastern part of Gaza.

The “Great March of Return” rallies have been held every week since March 30 last year in which Palestinians demand the return of those driven out of their homeland by Zionist aggression.

At least 307 Palestinians were martyred by ‘Israeli’ fire since the beginning of the rallies and more than 18,000 others wounded, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.

In March, a United Nations fact-finding mission found that the ‘Israeli’ forces committed rights violations during their crackdown against Palestinian protesters in Gaza that may amount to war crimes.

The protest organizers announced on Thursday that the rally would be suspended until March 2020, after which it would be held on a monthly basis.

Yousri Darwish, a member of the Supreme National Committee of the Marches of Return, said the decision to suspend the rallies was made in the best interest of the Palestinian people.

He said preparations for the commemoration of the Land Day would be done in the upcoming few months in which the protests would stop. The annual event is held on March 30 to mark the killing of six Palestinians by ‘Israeli’ occupation forces during mass protests against the Zionist entity’s seizure of their land in 1976.

Gaza has been under ‘Israeli’ siege since June 2007, which has caused a decline in living standards.