December 21, 2018: Mohammad Muin al-Jahjouh,16, was shot and killed by an Israeli army sharpshooter with a live round in the neck while participating in a non-violent protest at the border fence east of Gaza City.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has confirmed that Israeli soldiers killed three Palestinians, including a child, and a man with a mobility impairment.
In addition to Mohammad, the soldiers shot and killed Maher Atiya Yassin, 40, from the Nusseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza.
It is worth mentioning that Yassin suffered from a physical disability, and was killed east of the nearby al-Boreij refugee camp.
The soldiers also killed Abdul-Aziz Ibrahim Abu Sharia, 28, from the Sabra Neighborhood in Gaza city, after shooting him with a live round in the abdomen, east of Gaza city.
In addition, the troops wounded 115 civilians, including 21 children, 2 women, two journalists and four medics, during the Great Return March processions in the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip.
The soldiers, stationed on sand hills and fortified military towers across the perimeter fence attacked the protesters with dozens of live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets, high-velocity gas bombs and concussion grenades, especially on lands east of Gaza city, and east of the al-Boreij refugee camp, east of Jabalia in northern Gaza, in addition to Khan Younis and Rafah, in the southern part of the coastal region.
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered Friday afternoon in several sites along the Gaza-Israel border to protest the ongoing, devastating Israeli siege and border closure of the Gaza Strip. In addition to Mohammad being shot dead by Israeli bullets, 40 others were wounded by live bullets fired by Israeli soldiers into the unarmed crowd.
Among those injured were at least one paramedic and one journalist. In addition to live ammunition, Israeli forces fired tear gas, causing many of the demonstrators to suffer from tear gas inhalation.
One of the participants in the march was Santa Claus, who carried a Palestinian flag and handed out roses to participants.
Live ammunition was used by Israeli forces in at least two of the ‘Great Return March’ sites: Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, and east of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Despite the fact that the Israeli military was dozens of meters away from the protesters, with an electrified fence along the border separating the soldiers from the demonstrators, the Israeli army again, as they have each week for months, decided to fire live ammunition into the crowd.
This use of live ammunition against unarmed demonstrators has resulted in more than 250 Palestinian demonstrators being killed in weekly protests that began March 30th, 2018. Such use of deadly force is a direct violation of international law and human rights conventions, but to date, no charges have been brought against the Israeli authorities by the International Court of Justice for their flagrant violation of international law.
No Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian demonstrators participating in the ‘Great March of Return’ that has taken place each Friday since March 30th.
The protests began on Palestinian Land Day, and have continued weekly since March 30th, 2018 – the objective is to demand a return of Palestinian refugees to their land, which was illegally seized by the Israeli government through military force.
They are also demanding that Israel end its siege on Gaza’s air, land and sea, and to open the borders of Gaza that have been sealed since 2007.
Mohammad was from Gaza City, in the central part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC