Palestinian protesters have gathered along the Gaza-Israel for the sixth successive week. Fridays demonstration seeks to highlight the plight of workers in the Gaza Strip, where over 40 percent of the population is unemployed.
Its the penultimate week of the Great March of Return with the protest due to reach its crescendo on May 15 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the State of Israel. Palestinians mark it as Nakba day, meaning Day of the Catastrophe.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 45 people have been killed since protests began on March 30, while almost 6,800 have been injured. Among the dead are two Palestinian journalists Yasser Murtaja and Ahmed Abou Hussein, both men were shot by Israeli army snipers despite pictures showing “PRESS” emblazoned across the front of their protective jackets.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in response to a high court petition from human rights groups about the IDFs use of live ammunition against protesters, said that human rights law does not apply to the protests because it falls into the category of a state of war and therefore the IDF has acted according to Israeli and international law.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports the state claimed that the demonstrations “were part of hostile acts by Hamas against Israel” and that: “The state opposes the applying of human rights law during an armed conflict.”
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