Gaza: Israeli occupation troops shot and killed three Palestinians at the Gaza border fence. The occupation regime’s soldiers fired tank shells and machine guns at the men, according to a Palestinian medic, Izzat Shatat. He said the men had been close to the border fence, but that he was not sure if they actually crossed into Israel.
Gaza’s health ministry identified two of the dead as Bahaa Rahman Qudeih, 23, and Mohammad Abu Rayda, 20. A name had not yet been provided for the third person.
The latest deaths raised to 52 the toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since protests and clashes began along the Gaza border on March 30. Hundreds more have been wounded by gunfire.
No Israelis have been hurt in the weeks of protests and the occupation regime has faced international criticism for its use of live ammunition.
On May 14, the United States is to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem, whose Israeli-annexed eastern sector is sought for a Palestinian capital. The move is seen by Palestinians as a US breach of long-standing promises to help negotiate a fair arrangement for the occupied city.
On the following day, Palestinians mark the “nakba,” or catastrophe, to commemorate the anniversary of their mass uprooting during the 1948 war over Israel’s creation. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from what is now Israel, and the border protests are also billed as a “Great March of Return”.
Earlier Sunday, thousands led by Hamas leader Esmail Haniyeh joined a Gaza funeral procession for six Hamas members who were killed in an explosion a day earlier. Gaza media initially reported the blast as a “work accident”. Hamas later said the six, including two commanders, were killed “dismantling booby-trapped spying equipment planted by Israel during the past decade in Gaza.”
