Israeli Forces kill Palestinian Teen in Gaza Border Protest; Santa Participates in the March

22 Dec

12:03 AM

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered Friday afternoon in several sites along the Gaza-Israel border to protest the ongoing, devastating Israeli siege and border closure of the Gaza Strip. One Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli bullets, identified as Mohammad Muin al-Jahjouh,16, while 40 were wounded by live bullets fired by Israeli soldiers into the unarmed crowd.

Among those injured were at least one paramedic and one journalist. In addition to live ammunition, Israeli forces fired tear gas, causing many of the demonstrators to suffer from tear gas inhalation.

One of the participants in the march was Santa Claus, who carried a Palestinian flag and handed out roses to participants.

Live ammunition was used by Israeli forces in at least two of the ‘Great Return March’ sites: Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, and east of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Despite the fact that the Israeli military was dozens of meters away from the protesters, with an electrified fence along the border separating the soldiers from the demonstrators, the Israeli army again, as they have each week for months, decided to fire live ammunition into the crowd.

This use of live ammunition against unarmed demonstrators has resulted in more than 250 Palestinian demonstrators being killed in weekly protests that began March 30^th, 2018. Such use of deadly force is a direct violation of international law and human rights conventions, but to date, no charges have been brought against the Israeli authorities by the International Court of Justice for their flagrant violation of international law.

No Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian demonstrators participating in the ‘Great March of Return’ that has taken place each Friday since March 30^th.

The protests began on Palestinian Land Day, and have continued weekly since March 30^th, 2018 – the objective is to demand a return of Palestinian refugees to their land, which was illegally seized by the Israeli government through military force.

They are also demanding that Israel end its siege on Gaza’s air, land and sea, and to open the borders of Gaza that have been sealed since 2007.