Live Blog: Protests continue as Palestinians begin holding funerals for 61 killed in Gaza
Relatives of Palestinian Laila al-Ghandour 8 months who according to Gaza's health ministry died of tear gas inhalation during clashes in a tent city protest where Palestinians demand the right to return to their homeland, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the "Nakba", and against U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem, at Israel-Gaza border, mourn during her funeral in Gaza City on May 15, 2018. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajour/APA Images)
Palestinians in Gaza today began holding funerals for protesters killed by Israeli forces at yesterday’s Great March of Return near the buffer zone between Gaza and Israeli, which coincided with the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. Overnight casualties increased to 61, with the youngest killed was identified as 8-month old Laila al-Ghandour who died of tear gas inhalation.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health (as of 18:30 GMT):
Two Palestinians had been killed today during clashes east of the al-Bureij refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. One of the two slain Palestinians was identified as Nasser Ghorab, 51. The ministry added that 417 people were wounded during Tuesday’s protests, with injuries ranging from live ammunition to tear gas.
Here are the total number of killed and injured according to the Gaza Ministry of Health:
- 63 killed, including 8 minors and 1 paramedic
- ~3,188 injured – including at least 225 minors, 11 journalists, 17 paramedics
- At least 1,360 shot by Israeli soldiers using live Israeli ammunition.
Since the beginning of the Great March of Return on March 30th, 111 Palestinians have been killed, almost 3,400 protesters have been shot with live ammunition, and almost 13,000injured.
We will be updating this post with updates throughout the day and have embedded our Twitter feed below that will most likely include the most up-to-date news.
Updated 20:20 GMT
Protests have spread across Israel today with Israelis and Palestinians condemning the Israeli military’s killing of 61 protesters yesterday. Tonight in Jerusalem demonstrators lined the sidewalks outside of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence.
Earlier in the day in Tel Aviv around 500 shut down traffic at a busy intersection, chanting“no more killing civilians – end occupation now.”
In the morning Knesset member and head of the Joint List Ayman Odeh joined a march in the northern town of Umm al-Fahm.
Updated 18:45 GMT
The head of the Palestinian mission in Washington DC, Ambassador Husam Zomlot is being recalled back to Ramallah at the “direct instructions” of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, reports the Palestinian Authority’s Wafa News reports. Zomlot took up his post in Washington in 2017 at the personal request of Abbas.
Palestinian Ambassador and head of the PLO Mission in DC Husam Zomlot, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah.
Updated 18:35 GMT
Yumna Patel: Thousands protest across the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nakba
Palestinian protesters carry a banner saying “The right of return is a red line, we will never give it up” in the southern occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem (Photo: Akram al-Wara)
Updated 18:25 GMT
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a second statement on Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan this afternoon, now going after Erdogan’s use of force on Kurdish civilians:
“The man who sends thousands of Turkish soldiers to maintain the occupation of northern Cyprus and invades Syria, will not preach to us when we defend ourselves against invasion by Hamas. A man whose hands are drenched in the blood of countless Kurdish civilians in Turkey and Syria is the last one who can preach to us about military ethics.”
Updated 17:30 GMT
Israel’s diplomatic relations are taking a hit following the killing of protesters in Gaza yesterday. After both South Africa and Turkey announced yesterday they are recalling ambassadors from Israel, Turkish-Israeli relations have continued to fray with reports surfacing today that Turkey today asked the Israeli ambassador to leave the country. Anadolu Agency reports,
The Foreign Ministry summoned Ambassador Eitan Naeh and told him it would be “appropriate” for him to return to his country “for a while”, said the sources, who refused to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
This morning Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the head of an “apartheid state” on social media. Netanyahu responded, “Erdogan is among Hamas’s biggest supporters and there is no doubt that he well understands terrorism and slaughter. I suggest that he not preach morality to us.”
Meanwhile Erdogan is rallying international support for Palestinians. Today Turkey delivered more than $100,000 in humanitarian aid to the Palestine Red Crescent in Gaza, reports Anadolu Agency.
Updated 15:10 GMT
This morning the Israeli military tweeted the following:
Even putting aside the question of how the military identifies “terrorists” or “terror backgrounds,” this is a stark admission that the military murdered at least 37 other people in Gaza.
Jonathan Ofir adds on Facebook:
But what is the meaning of this message anyway? Do the snipers check the background of those people they execute beforehand? Obviously, not. The “inquiry” happened after the fact of their killing. This suggests the notion of kill first, and then check if you got a “terrorist”. By Israeli standards, it would appear that a “collateral” of OVER 50% is still something to boast about.
Updated 14:55 GMT
Be sure to watch this news clip of Noura Erakat on CBS News talking about yesterday’s massacre in Gaza.
Updated 14:40 GMT
The Daily News has an astonishing cover today underlining the tone deafness senior Trump administration officials during the opening ceremony of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, juxtaposed with a scene from Gaza where Israeli soldiers killed 60 Palestinian protesters.
We will be updating this post with updates throughout the day and have embedded our Twitter feed below that will most likely include the most up-to-date news.
posted by Satish Sharma at
15:25
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