Israeli forces have killed seven Palestinians, two of them children, and shot more than 90 others in one of the bloodiest days of a six-month protest movement along the frontier, the Gaza health ministry said.
The ministry in the Hamas-controlled strip said Nasser Mosabeh, 12, and Mohammed al-Houm, 14, were hit by sniper fire near the perimeter fence that surrounds one side of the 140 square mile coastal enclave.
Israel’s army said around 20,000 people had gathered at multiple sites along the frontier.
“The rioters sabotaged security infrastructure, attempted to cross the security fence and infiltrate into Israel in several locations and hurled over 100 (improvised explosive devices) and grenades towards IDF troops and the security fence,” the Israel Defence Forces said in a statement on Saturday. It said no IDF injuries were reported.
Troops “responded with riot dispersal means and operated in accordance with standard operating procedures”,the army said. Israeli aircraft also bombed two Hamas positions in response.
Palestinians have protested weekly since March 30th in what they call the “Great March of Return”, demanding that Arabs who fled or were expelled around the time of Israel’s creation in 1948 to be allowed to return to their homes. Demonstrators have also focused on a crippling decade-long Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has trapped much of the strip’s population and devastated its economy.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 190 people, the majority by bullets but also bombings. Children, medics and journalists have been shot, often as they stand far back from the fence. One Israeli soldier has been shot dead.
During the past two weeks, the Hamas-led Friday rallies have grown in size and also moved to evenings and night-time, a move protesters say is to save lives as people can move under the cover of darkness. Piles of tyres have also been burnt to obscure the snipers’s vision.
The international aid group Doctors Without Borders says it had treated more than 2,000 patients with gunshot wounds, 90 per cent of whom were hit in the lower limbs, since the protest began. The youngest patient treated was seven years old, the group said in an email.
Israel says its actions are focused on preventing people from entering its territory and accuses Hamas of using the mass rallies to stage attacks. On Friday, it said several Palestinians had breached the fence but immediately returned.
The World Bank warned on Tuesday that Gaza’s economy is in “freefall”. It cited the blockade as a factor but also economic sanctions from Hamas’s political rival, the Palestinian Authority, and a steep reduction in international aid, particularly from the Trump administration.
It said unemployment was now more than 50 per cent, and higher than 70 per cent among Gaza’s youth.
“A combination of war, isolation, and internal rivalries has left Gaza in a crippling economic state and exacerbated the human distress,” said Marina Wes, the World Bank’s director for the region.
The frontier bloodshed had brought Israel and Hamas close to war, leading this summer to the most severe exchanges of fighting since the 2014 conflict, with Israel using airstrikes while Hamas fired mortar bombs and rockets.
A UN-backed ceasefire effort, mediated by Egypt, appeared to have stalled this month.
Guardian News and Media 2018