THE skies above the eastern suburbs of Gaza City buzzed with drones on March 30th. The Israeli army was using them to monitor the tens of thousands of Palestinians marching to the border, and to drop tear-gas grenades on those getting too close. When some of the marchers began running closer, the troops opened fire, killing 17 and wounding hundreds. Three and a half years after the last Gaza war, when 2,300 Palestinians and 74 Israelis were killed, the beleaguered coastal strip was erupting again. There were no casualties on the Israeli side, but the mass protests pose a new challenge.
The Palestinians are calling it the “Great Return March”, a salute to the homes their grandparents lived in, across the border, before they fled or were pushed out by the newborn Israel. They promise to keep marching for another six weeks, at least. From Israel’s perspective, these are “acts of terror”, aimed at sabotaging the border fence and orchestrated by Hamas,...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa https://ift.tt/2qcdGLj
EmoticonEmoticon