Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, August 23, 2019
On 71st Great March of Return, 149 civilians injured as a result of the Israeli military’s continued use of excessive force against peaceful protests along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border; 66 children, 7 paramedics, including a female paramedic, were among those injured this Friday, 23 August 2019. This week’s protest marked a spike in the number of civilian injuries especially ones caused by live bullets and shrapnel; as well as, targeting medical crews in an indication to the Israeli military’s escalated use of excessive force against protesters. Seventy-seven civilians were shot with live bullets and shrapnel, and 6 civilians were deemed in a critical medical condition.
This escalation came despite that the Supreme National Authority of Great March of Return and Breaking issued instructions for civilians to maintain the peaceful nature of the protests and stay away from any areas open to soldiers and snipers and avoid friction in today’s protest, titled “Protests for al-Aqsa Mosque.” This week also witnessed an increase in number of participants compared to last weeks, knowing that the organizers widely mobilized for the protests…