Photo credit: WAFA. Palestinians protest at the fifth Great March of Return east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 27, 2018.
For the fifth time in five weeks, thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip marched to contact areas with the Israeli occupation on Friday, April 27, 2018.
Palestinians have held mass protests every Friday in Gaza since Land Day on March 30, 2018 as a part of the Great March of Return campaign. The campaign calls for the realization of Palestinians’ right to return to land under Israeli occupation and annexation. The series of demonstrations will culminate on Nakba Day, May 15, 2018.
The Israeli army responded to the march this week as it has each week before: soldiers fired on peaceful protestors with live bullets. Dr. Ashraf el Qudwa, the spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, reported that Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians, including 14-year-old Azzam Hilal Oueida. Another 883 others were injured, including journalists and medics.
Despite the violent backlash, hundreds of protesters successfully reached the Israeli fence that besieges Gaza by land on Friday.
Israeli forces have killed at least 40 Palestinian protesters and injured 6,400 since the Great March of Return began in March.
The Committee of the Return Great March said today in a statement that next Friday will highlight how the Israeli siege on Gaza harms workers through the slogan “Palestinian Workers Stand Steadfast Against the Siege.” The day of protest is also in honor of International Workers’ Day on Tuesday.
Last year, UNRWA reported Gaza’s overall unemployment rate as 44 percent. For Palestinians in Gaza between the ages of 15 and 29, unemployment has reached 62 percent.
Ahmad Jaradat is the Senior Project Coordinator of the Alternative Information Center.