"Great March of Return" demonstrations in Gaza
Four Palestinians were killed Friday by Israeli forces in two separate incidents near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The first incident took place in the Khan Younis and Rafah areas in the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli tanks and aircraft targeted sites belonging to Ezzedine al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas movement, killing three of its members.
“Three Palestinians were martyred by Israeli occupation forces, including two in the northern Gaza Strip and a third in the southern city of Rafah,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement.
Israel’s hardline defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has warned that the continued use of incendiary kites and balloons by Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip would “force” Israel into waging another large-scale military assault on the Hamas-run coastal enclave. “Hamas is forcing us into a situation where we will have no choice but to embark on a large and painful military operation,” Lieberman was quoted as saying by Israeli Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth. “Any reasonable person who sees the… farmland that has been scorched [by incendiary kites and balloons] understands the intolerable nature of the situation,” he told a group of Israelis living near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.Palestinian experts slam Israel’s ‘Jewish State’ lawIn recent weeks, Palestinian activists in Gaza have been flying flaming kites and balloons over Israeli territory as part of ongoing popular rallies along the buffer zone. According to Israeli officials, the improvised aerial weapons have caused a number of fires inside Israel, causing significant material damage but not resulting in any deaths or injuries. Since the rallies along the buffer zone first began on Mar. 30, more than 140 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire. Hungarian prime minister wraps up two-day Israel visitProtesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel. They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.Turkish vice president blasts new Israeli law
Israel’s Lieberman threatens ‘painful’ Gaza offensive
He did not provide the names or ages of the slain individuals.
However, the al-Qassam Brigades identified the killed men as Shaaban Abu Khater, 26, Mohamed Abu Farhana, 31, and Mahmoud Qeshta, 23.
The second incident took place at the return marches, where a young man was killed and 120 others were wounded by Israeli army gunfire and tear gas.
Israel’s “Jewish Nation-State” law promises to usher in a new phase of anti-Arab discrimination and will further undermine the Middle East peace process, Palestinian experts say.Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Palestinian political analyst Talal Okal said the law is based on the erroneous Zionist notion of “a land without a people for a people without a land”.As a result of the legislation, Okal said, “Palestinians in Israel will be subject to increased discrimination while the collective displacement of Palestinians [from their land] will only accelerate”.Turkish vice president blasts new Israeli lawThe new law, he went on to warn, “will only serve to legitimize the eviction of Palestinians from their land to make way for new Jewish settlements”.On Thursday, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed a law that describes Israel as “the nation-state of the Jewish people”.The legislation was approved in a vote of 62 to 55 in a tumultuous session of the assembly during which Arab lawmakers slammed what they described as “Israeli racism against the [country’s] Arab minority”.The legislation further states that a “united Jerusalem” is the country’s capital and that Hebrew is its official language, stripping Arabic of its earlier designation as an official language while recognizing its “special status”.Turkish presidential aide condemns 'Jewish state' lawPalestinian writer and political analyst Abdel Majid Sweilam, for his part, described the law as “fascist” in nature, warning that it would “officially end the peace process”.Sweilam called for the legislation to be overturned, noting that international law “rejects the establishment of any political regime based on race or ethnicity”.The controversial law, he added, “means there will no longer be anything preventing the Israeli government from officially supporting the settlements”, which are being illegally built on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.Israel hits Gaza Strip, killing Palestinian, injuring 3Jihad Harb, a political science lecturer at Ramallah’s Birzeit University, says the law will surely derail any potential peace deal with the Palestinians.“It means that Jerusalem’s status cannot be negotiated within the context of a future peace deal,” he said.Suleiman Basharat, a researcher at the Yabous Center for Strategic Studies, warned of the law’s adverse effect on Israeli-Palestinian relations.‘Extremist’ Israeli legislation draws storm of outrage“It will encourage Jewish discrimination against Palestinians and the displacement of the latter, especially in mixed cities where Palestinians currently live side by side with Jews,” Basharat said.“This law will allow the state to treat non-Jews as second-class citizens,” he added.Basharat concluded by saying that, through the new legislation, Israel “has officially ended the peace process and given up on the possibility of reaching a political solution [with the Palestinians] based on international law”.Turkey slams Israel's 'Jewish nation-state' lawEU expresses concern over Israel's Jewish nation-state lawIsrael adopts divisive Jewish nation-state law
Palestinian experts slam Israel’s ‘Jewish State’ law
A group of Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip who have been flying incendiary kites and balloons into Israeli territory say they will continue their activities -- despite Israeli threats -- until the 11-year blockade of Gaza is lifted.“Since morning, our units have been steering flaming kites and balloons over Israeli-occupied territory to show that we don’t take orders from anyone,” the Sons of al-Zawari -- a self-proclaimed “brigade” of Palestinian kite flyers -- said in a Wednesday statement.“We will continue our peaceful resistance until our demands are met and the siege lifted,” the group added.It went on to deny Israeli media reports that resistance movement Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, had vowed to curtail the group’s activities.“These reports are completely false,” the group said. “The Palestinian factions will not stop us from waging peaceful resistance.”The Sons of al-Zawari take their name from Mohamed al-Zawari, a Tunisian aviation engineer who was assassinated in 2016 by unknown gunmen.Many observers blame Israel for the death of al-Zawari, who had had reportedly contributed heavily to Hamas’s drone-production program.In reference to a raft of fresh Israeli restrictions on Gaza, the group said: “The more they tighten the siege, the more fires we’ll set [inside Israel].”In recent weeks, Palestinian activists in Gaza have been flying flaming kites and balloons over Israeli territory as part of ongoing popular rallies along the Gaza-Israel security fence.According to Israeli officials, the improvised aerial weapons have caused numerous fires inside Israel, causing considerable material damage -- in some cases -- but no deaths or injuries.Since the rallies along the security fence first kicked off on Mar. 30, more than 130 Palestinian protesters have been killed -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of basic commodities.Jewish settlers converge on Al-Aqsa complex: OfficialEx-Israel PM says Netanyahu endangering Zionist project29 Palestinians arrested in West Bank raidsIsrael prepared for ‘any scenario’ in Gaza: Netanyahu
Gaza’s incendiary kite-flyers defy Israeli threats
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the martyr as Mohamed Sherif Badwan, 27, who was shot in the chest by the Israeli army, east of Gaza city.
For almost four months, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been holding almost daily demonstrations near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.
Since the demonstrations began on March 30, more than 140 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.
Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.
They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.