By Hamdi Yildiz
GAZA, Palestine (AA): A Palestinian protestor was killed Friday by Israeli soldiers, according to a statement by the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Ahmad al-Karra, 23, was shot in the stomach and succumbed to his wounds while attending a ‘Great March of Return’ protest in Gaza.
Some 71 others were wounded, 37 of which were struck by live ammunition. The injured included 30 children and three women.
Israeli forces also reportedly targeted an ambulance.
According to Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Israeli news site Ynet revealed on Tuesday, 23 July 2019, that over the past months, the Israeli forces have been trained along the Gaza Strip borders on a new sniper weapon. This means that the Israeli military uses the protests of the Great March of Return as firing ranges to test its weapons, in clear disregard for the value of human life and in violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
PCHR documented 207 killings by Israel since the outbreak of the protests on 30 March 2018, including 44 children, 2 women, 9 persons with disabilities, 4 paramedics, and 2 journalists. Additionally, 13,323 were wounded, including 2,742 children, 409 women, 221 paramedics and 207 journalists. Among those wounded, PCHR documented cases where 196 persons have become with disabilities, including 28 children and 5 women, and were as follows: 149 amputees; 21 paralyzed, 26 blind or deaf and 9 sexually disabled.
Demonstrators demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has shattered the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its 2 million inhabitants of many basic amenities.
[Photo: Injured Palestinian carried after shot by Israeli soldiers during Great March demonstrations in Gaza- Israeli border in Rafah on 26 July 2019. Photographer: Abed Rahim Khatim/AA]