Gaza: Great March of Return still faces repression

Bill Weinberg
Great March of Return

More than a year and a half after it was launched, the Great March of Return continues to mobilize weekly on the Gaza Strip border. Friday, Oct. 25, saw the 80th such mobilization—and was met with gunfire by Israeli security forces. Hundreds of Palestinians protested at various points near the border fence, with some setting tires on fire and throwing stones, Molotov cocktails and firecrackers at the Israeli forces—who responded by launching tear-gas canisters and opening fire with both rubber bullets and live rounds. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 95 civilians—including 43 children, a woman, two paramedics and a journalist—were shot and injured by Israeli troops.

Photo: PCHR

  1. New Israeli strikes on Gaza
    New Israeli air-strikes were carried out on purported Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, despite reports of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. Three days of air-strikes have left some 35 dead in the Strip. The escalation began Nov. 12 with Israel’s targeted killing of a top Islamic Jihad commander, Baha Abu al-Ata, who was accused of being behind rocket fire and other attacks. The violence came at a politically sensitive time for Israel, with no new government in place since a September election ended in deadlock. (AFP, Al Jazeera)

  2. Gaza March of Return suspended
    The weekly March of Return demonstration on the border with Gaza was suspended for a third consecutive week due to escalating violence along the border and amid ongoing sporadic Israeli air-strikes on the Strip. (ToI, Nov. 30; JTA, Nov. 28)