On March 30, 2018 -- Israeli Military forces opened fire on Palestinian protesters along
its southern border with the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of nearly two-dozen people,
making it the deadliest day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since a 2014 war inside the territory.
Israel defends its actions, saying it was preventing a mass crossing of its southern
border and protecting Israelis in surrounding towns.
But the country is still being criticized by world leaders for what they are saying
is use of excessive force.
International organizations are calling for a full, transparent, and independent investigation
into the killings.
But how did this all come about in the first place?
Hi I’m Judah with NowThis World -- and in today’s episode we’re going to explain
why the “March of Return” protests are happening in Gaza.
To be clear, according to the international community the Palestinian territories include
the West Bank, The Gaza strip, and east Jerusalem.
For the sake of this specific story, we are only going to focus on Gaza.
To understand what these “March of Return” protesters want, we first need to take look
at a brief history of this conflict’s recent origins.
In 1948 the state of Israel was established.
The move marked the beginning of the creation a national home for the Jewish people in the
aftermath of the Holocaust.
However, the declaration sent shock waves throughout the middle east, launching what
would later be known as the Arab-Israeli War.
This period of time would be remembered and referred to by Palestinians as Al-Nakba, or
“The catastrophe.”
The 1948 war sparked a refugee crisis -- it uprooted nearly 700,000 Palestinians from
their homes, forcing them to seek refuge in other Arab nations.
More than 7 million Palestinians are refugees today, if you count those displaced by the
1948 war and their descendants.
And they contend that they have the right to return to their ancestral towns and villages.
Some of those refugees settled in Gaza, which was taken over by Egypt during the war.
According to The United Nations, about 1.3 million people living in Gaza are Palestinian
refugees.
Egypt controlled Gaza up until The Six-Day War broke out in 1967.
During this war Israel took control of Gaza and the Sinai peninsula from Egypt, among
other territories.
Israel ruled Gaza for the years to come.
Israeli troops were stationed there, and the government allowed Israelis to settle in the
strip of land -- until 2005.
Then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed to withdraw troops from Gaza, and forcibly
removed the settlers from the land.
In 2006, elections were held in the Palestinian territory, and the victor?
Hamas -- A group considered by Israel, the United States, and the European Union to be
a “terrorist organization.”
Israel considers Hamas a “terrorist” organization because the group has been known to call for
the total destruction of Israel all together.
While the political wing of Hamas, runs the territory and has set up social services and
food banks for those in Gaza, the armed militant wing, called the Izz al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades,
has consistently and indiscriminately launched missiles across Israel’s border.
This is why, beginning in 2007, Israel imposed a harsh blockade on the strip of land -- restricting
all access to the territory by land, air, and sea.
The move cut off the the flow of goods and supplies to the nearly 2 million people living
there.
Which brings us back to the protest.
On the morning of March 30th, Palestinian organizers bused men, women and children near
the Israeli-Gazan border to begin six weeks of peaceful protest.
These demonstrations, organized to begin on the 42 anniversary of what Palestinians call
“Land Day,” were supposed to take place 700 yards away from the border.
Land Day rallies commemorate the events of March 30, 1976 when Israeli forces shot and
killed six Arab citizens of Israel, during strikes by Palestinian citizens, meant to
protest the Israeli government confiscation of thousands of acres of Palestinian land
in the Galilee region.
Then on the last day of the six-week protest, a day Palestinians call “Al-Nakba,” protesters
planned to march closer towards the Israeli border.
The gathering put Israel on edge, because they say they were unsure of whether protestors
or members of the Brigade would attempt to cross their border.
Before the demonstrations even began, Israel said the protests were “dangerous” and
blamed Hamas for any violence that might occur.
And even though Palestinian organizers warned protesters to stay away from getting too close
to the Israeli border, some did anyway.
As hundreds of activists gathered near the frontier of the border, a small group began
throwing stones, firebombs, and setting fire to tires.
That’s when the Israelis said they responded with riot-controlling methods including snipers
who began firing on the demonstrators.
According to Palestinian officials, at least 21 people have been killed and over 750 have
been shot by Israeli soldiers.
Israel claims its soldiers reacted proportionally, saying they prevented a mass breach of its
southern border.
The military claims that some of those shot during the protest, had shot at Israeli soldiers.
The military also accuses Hamas of quote "cynically exploiting women and children" by sending
them to the frontlines.
Hamas has rejected these claim, saying it was quote "lies aimed at justifying the massacres."
Videos captured by Palestinians near the border, have raised concerns of excessive use of force
by the military.
This video shows a man running holding a tire seemingly not posing a threat to soldiers,
and goes on to show him being shot by an Israeli sniper.
Human Rights Watch, a leading NGO, says that killings were quote “unlawful,” “calculated,”
and even asserted that a senior Israeli official gave soldiers permission to use live ammunition
against unarmed demonstrators.
The international community, including the United Nations and the European Union, have
called for a transparent and independent investigation into the military’s use of force.
But, so far, Israel has rejected these requests, saying its soldiers quote “did what needed
to be done.”