March of Return Death Toll Rises to 18

Gaza, MINA – A Palestinian young man on Monday succumbed to his wounds suffered during his participation in the largest non-violent demonstration dubbed the March of Return to the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, raising the death toll of Israeli army shooting at the peaceful marchers to 18.

Spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza Strip, Ashraf al-Qudra, announced that Faris al-Raqib, 29, succumbed to his serious wounds that he sustained last Friday after being shot in the stomach by Israeli snipers, PIC reported.

Approximately 1,500 other Palestinians were also wounded on Gaza borders, resulting in calls for an independent inquiry by the European Union and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

On March 30, thousands of Palestinians had marched to the Gaza border at the start of a six-week protest, dubbed the Great March of Return marking the 42nd anniversary of Land Day.

The Land Day is of special significance to the Palestinians because it was the first time since 1948 that Palestinians in Israel organized a collective response to Israeli policies. It is marked not only by Palestinians within historical Palestine, but also by Palestinians all over the world.

This year will also mark 70 years of the Palestinian catastrophe, the Nakba, and the forced displacement of 750,000 Palestinians, whose descendants now number millions living as refugees abroad or in other occupied Palestinian territories.(R/R04/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)