GAZA, May 4, 2018 (WAFA) – Palestinian protesters gathered on Friday to partake in the Great March of Return protests at the encampments along the eastern border of the besieged Gaza Strip for the sixth consecutive Friday.
Dubbed the Friday of Palestinian Workers, today’s protest comes three days after the International Workers’ Day and seeks to highlight the plight of Palestinian workers in the besieged coastal enclave, where over 40 percent of the population is unemployed.
More Palestinians are expected to arrive to encampments set up in five locations along Gaza border, including Khan Younis, Rafah and al-Bureij refugee camp, to demand their right of return to their villages and towns they were forcibly displaced from in 1948.
The 46-day Great March of Return protests started on March 30 and are set to reach their crescendo on May 15, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Nakba (catastrophe), in which over 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes to make way for the creation of Israel in 1948.
According to the Health Ministry, since the protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed 45 protestors, including two journalists Yasser Murtaja and Ahmed Abu Hussein, who were both shot despite wearing protective jackets marked with the word “PRESS”.
Israeli snipers have also injured over 6,800 protestors, including over 20 protestors who had their legs amputated as a result of being shot with expanding “dum-dum” bullets.
K.F.
