Funeral ceremony of Palestinian in Gaza
One Palestinian was martyred Thursday -- and three others injured -- in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
“Martyr Abdel-Karim Radwan, 22, succumbed to injuries sustained as a result of the strike,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a brief statement.
“The three injured individuals, meanwhile, have since been taken to Gaza’s European Hospital for treatment,” he added.
In its own statement, the Israeli army confirmed the strike, saying: “An Israeli warplane targeted an activist cell that had been launching incendiary balloons near a Hamas position in the southern Gaza Strip.”
The army vowed to continue targeting what it described as “terrorist activities led by Hamas and any similarly dangerous activities”.
According to Anadolu Agency correspondents based in the area, an Israeli warplane fired at least two rockets at a guard post in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
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 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 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 two million inhabitants of basic commodities.
A total of 142 people have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire since Mar. 30, when Palestinians in the Gaza Strip began holding rallies along the Gaza-Israel security fence, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.“Among the martyred are 18 children, two women, two medics and two journalists,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a Thursday statement.Over the same period, 16,496 Palestinians have been injured, including 4,190 by heavy ammunition and 529 by rubber-coated bullets, according to the ministry.The injured, al-Qidra said, include 3,126 children and 1,362 women.Of these, according to ministry figures, 391 were seriously injured while 3,992 had sustained moderate wounds.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.
142 Palestinians martyred since Gaza rallies began
Israel passed a law on Thursday to declare that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country, something members of the Arab minority called racist and verging on apartheid.The "nation-state" law, backed by the right-wing government, passed by a vote of 62-55 and two abstentions in the 120-member parliament after months of political argument. Some Arab lawmakers shouted and ripped up papers after the vote."This is a defining moment in the annals of Zionism and the history of the state of Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset after the vote.Largely symbolic, the law was enacted just after the 70th anniversary of the birth of the state of Israel. It stipulates that "Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it".The bill also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew, downgrading it to a "special status" that enables its continued use within Israeli institutions.Israel's Arabs number some 1.8 million, about 20 percent of the 9 million population.Early drafts of the legislation went further in what critics at home and abroad saw as discrimination towards Israel's Arabs, who have long said they are treated as second-class citizens.Clauses that were dropped in last-minute political wrangling - and after objections by Israel's president and attorney-general - would have enshrined in law the establishment of Jewish-only communities, and instructed courts to rule according to Jewish ritual law when there were no relevant legal precedents.Instead, a more vaguely-worded version was approved, which says: "The state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment."Even after the changes, critics said the new law will deepen a sense of alienation within the Arab minority."I announce with shock and sorrow the death of democracy," Ahmed Tibi, an Arab lawmaker, told reporters.Netanyahu has defended the law. "We will keep ensuring civil rights in Israel's democracy but the majority also has rights and the majority decides," he said last week."An absolute majority wants to ensure our state's Jewish character for generations to come."Israel's Arab population is comprised mainly of descendants of the Palestinians who remained on their land during the conflict between Arabs and Jews that culminated in the war of 1948 surrounding the creation of the modern state of Israel. Hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their homes or fled.Those who remained have full equal rights under the law but say they face constant discrimination, citing inferior services and unfair allocations for education, health and housing.In Ma'alot-Tarshiha, a municipality in northern Israel which was created by linking the Jewish town of Ma'alot and the Arab town of Tarshiha, there was anger among Arab residents.“I think this is racist legislation by a radical right-wing government that is creating radical laws, and is planting the seeds to create an apartheid state," said physician Bassam Bisharah, 71."The purpose of this law is discrimination. They want to get rid of the Arabs totally," said Yousef Faraj, 53, from the nearby Druze village of Yanuh. "The Israelis want to destroy all the religions of the Arabs."Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, called the law a bid to advance "ethnic superiority by promoting racist policies".
Israel adopts divisive Jewish nation-state law