Young Man Martyred as Israeli Army Continues to Use Lethal Force in Gaza

Medical sources in Gaza said Ahmed Arafa, 25, was hit with a direct bullet in the chest during clashes East of Bureij in central Gaza on Tuesday, Middle East News reported.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 19 since the beginning of tensions last Friday, while over 1,500 Palestinians sustained injuries that range from moderate to critical.

Thousands of Palestinians launched the Great March of Return in the besieged Gaza Strip to demand their right of return to their villages and towns they were forcibly displaced from in 1948.

The peaceful protests began on March 30, which coincided with the 42nd anniversary of the Land Day, which marks the day Israeli forces killed six Palestinians during protests against land confiscation in 1976.

The 46-day mass protests are expected to continue until May 15, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Nakba (catastrophe), in which over 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes in 1948.

Despite ongoing international condemnation, Israel continues to use lethal force in suppressing the protesters, who are unarmed and are vulnerable in the face of the heavily armed Israeli soldiers stationed at the borders.

Multiple human rights organizations have come out in full condemnation of Israel’s violent raid on the massive unarmed civilian protests in the besieged sliver.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed Israel’s killing of Palestinian protesters as “unlawful” and “calculated”, saying those officials who authorized the Israeli military to use lethal force ahead of the mass rallies in Gaza are to blame for the bloodshed.

The HRW added that footage of the Gaza demonstrations includes no evidence of protesters using firearms, questioning the Israeli claim that the number of Palestinians injured by live ammunition was likely in the dozens.