The March For Return Is Not Over: Death Toll in Gaza Increases

The death toll of the 39th Great March of Return protest reached four after the Ministry of Health confirmed that 18-year-old Ayman Munir Shbeir succumbed Saturday morning to wounds he sustained during Friday protests.

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At least 47 Palestinians were injured with live bullets and rubber-coated steel bullets, including two journalists and four paramedics.

On Friday, Gaza’s Health Ministry confirmed Muhammad Muin al-Jahjouh,16, was killed after being shot with a live bullet in the neck, while Maher Attiyeh Yassin, a 40-year-old man with a disability, and  Abed al-Aziz Ibrahim Abu Sharia, 28, both died after sustaining bullet wounds.

According to Israeli forces, about 8,000 Palestinians gathered near the border fence to demand an end to the illegal siege on Gaza and the right as refugees to return to their original homes in Jaffa, Haifa, Nazareth, among others cities, they were expelled from during the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

The Great March for Return began on March 30. Since then, over 250 Palestinians have been killed and over 20,000 injured. Many survivors have lost their limbs after being shot by Israeli soldiers. Human rights organizations have condemned Israel’s “shot-to-kill-or-maim” policy.

As Palestinians in Gaza seek the right to return, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are fighting for their right to remain in their lands. In recent months, the Israeli government confirmed it was demolishing the Bedouin village on Khan Al-Ahmar, located east of Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank, and announced they will evict 700 Palestinians from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.