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Violent Weekend
On Gaza Strip
Times of Israel
ens of thousands of Palestinians clashed violently
with the IDF on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip
on Friday, March 30. The Hamas-run health minis-
try in Gaza said the reported death toll is 18.
There were discrepancies in Palestinian reports on
the Gaza death toll from Friday. While Hamas claimed
Monday that 18 had died, the official news agency of the
Palestinian Authority had the number at 16. Israel has no
official death toll figures.
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that at least
10 of those killed were members of Palestinian terror
groups, including Hamas, and gave details of their roles.
On Friday, some 30,000 Palestinians took part in dem-
onstrations along the Gaza border, during which rioters
threw rocks and firebombs at Israeli troops on the other
side of the fence, burned tires and scrap wood, sought to
breach and damage the security fence and, in one case
opened fire at Israeli soldiers.
The Gaza health ministry reported that more than
1,000 people were injured during the Friday protests,
more than half by Israeli gunfire and the rest from tear
gas and rubber bullets. These figures could not be inde-
pendently verified. Israeli officials said they were inflated.
There were no casualties among Israelis.
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Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops during a protest marking “Land Day” in the West Bank city village of Qusra near Nablus on
March 30, 2018.
The army said that its sharpshooters targeted only
those taking explicit violent action against Israeli troops
or trying to break through or damage the security
fence. Video footage showed that, in one case, a rioter,
whom the army included in its list of Hamas members,
appeared to be shot while running away from the border.
The army in response accused Hamas of editing and/or
fabricating its videos.
The United States on Saturday blocked a draft U.N.
Security Council statement urging restraint and calling
for an investigation of clashes on the Gaza-Israel border,
diplomats said.
On Saturday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
called for “those concerned to refrain from any act that
could lead to further casualties.” He also called for an
independent and transparent investigation into the
deaths and injuries during Friday’s clashes.
IDF spokesman Ronen Manelis said Friday the army
faced “a violent, terrorist demonstration at six points”
along the fence. He said the IDF used “pinpoint fire”
wherever there were attempts to breach or damage the
security fence. “All the fatalities were aged 18-30; several
fatalities were known to us; and at least two of them were
members of Hamas commando forces,” he said.
Hamas is a terrorist group that openly seeks to destroy
Israel and that seized control of Gaza in a violent coup
against the Palestinian Authority. Israel accuses Hamas,
with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of using
the protest as cover to carry out violence.
Palestinians say protesters were shot while posing no
threat to soldiers and rights groups have criticized Israel’s
use of live fire.
The Palestinians’ march to Gaza’s border with Israel
on Friday was the largest such demonstration in recent
memory, calling for Palestinians to be allowed to return
to land that their ancestors fled from in the 1948 War of
Independence. It was dubbed the “March of Return.”
The army has remained on high alert even as the vio-
lence appeared to abate Friday evening, amid fears of
persisting attacks, including infiltration attempts and
rocket fire.
Protest organizers have said mass marches would con-
tinue until May 15, the 70th anniversary of the establish-
ment of the State of Israel. •