GAZA, August 17, 2018 (WAFA) – At least two Palestinian young men were killed and 241 others injured by live bullets or sustained suffocation from teargas inhalation on Friday as Israeli forces continued to crack down on the Great March of Return protests at Gaza-Israel border, according to the Ministry of Health.
The forces fired live bullets and rubber-coated steel rounds at the protesters who gathered at many encampments along the border, killing Karim Abul-Fatayer, 30, and Sa‘adi Akram Muammar, 26. Some 241 other protesters were also injured or suffocated from teargas inhalation.
More than 170 Palestinians have been killed and 17,500 others injured since the outbreak of the Gaza border protests on March 30. The protests call for ending the 12-year-long Israeli blockade of Gaza and for the right of return of the refugees.
Most of the casualties occurred on May 14 when Israeli forces attacked Palestinian protesters marking the 70th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of historical Palestine and the ensuing ethnic cleansing of half a million Palestinian refugees.
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