Jews Down Under An online magazine for Australian Jews
The Jewish population of Israel was preparing for Passover, and the Christian population was in the midst of their Good Friday activities, on Friday March 30th, whilst approximately 30,000 Palestinians marched to the border of Gaza to take part in what were supposed to be peaceful demonstrations.
The ABC – Australian Broadcasting Commission posted:
Families brought their children to the encampments just a few hundred metres from the Israeli security barrier with the Hamas Islamist-run enclave, and football fields were marked in the sand and scout bands played.
But as the day wore on, hundreds of Palestinian youths ignored calls from the organisers and the Israeli military to stay away from the frontier, where Israeli soldiers across the border kept watch from dirt mound embankments.
The military said its troops had used “riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators”.
Some of the demonstrators were “rolling burning tires and hurling stones” at the border fence and at soldiers.
During these ‘peaceful demonstrations’ rioters threw rocks and firebombs at Israeli troops on the other side of the fence, burned tyres and scrap wood, tried to break through and damage the security fence, threw Molotov cocktails , and fired a gun – according to the UN – at Israeli soldiers.
It was hardly “peaceful protest”
Kuwait, which represents Arab countries on the UN Security Council, presented a proposed statement to the Council, which called for an “independent and transparent investigation” of the violence.
The draft council statement also expressed “grave concern at the situation at the border.”
“independent and transparent investigation of the violence,”
and
“called upon all sides to exercise restraint and prevent a further escalation.”
The draft also referred to the Palestinian
“right to peaceful protest”
and expressed
“sorrow at the loss of innocent Palestinian lives.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Saturday for
“those concerned to refrain from any act that could lead to further casualties.”
It is unclear if other countries would have also objected, UN diplomats tell CNN. If one country objects, then the statement cannot be adopted.
MFA statement regarding events in Gaza
(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)
31 Mar 2018
Anyone who mistakenly views in this murderous spectacle even an iota of freedom of expression is blind to the threats the State of Israel faces.
The border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip separates a sovereign state and a terrorist organization.
It separates a state that protects its citizens from murderers who send their countrymen into danger.
The fence separates an army that uses force in self-defense and in a focused and proportionate manner, and Hamas, an organization that sanctifies murder and death, that for years – yesterday included – has been intent on harming millions of Israelis.
Anyone who mistakenly views in this murderous spectacle even an iota of freedom of expression is blind to the threats the State of Israel faces.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for an independent inquiry into Friday’s violence.
“attempt to break through the fence”
was specifically carried out to
“harm our sovereignty.”
“Any state whose borders people tried to crash would act in an even more severe way than we did, and therefore the procession of hypocrites calling for a committee of inquiry must understand that there will be no such thing,”
“There will not be any international inquiry. We will not cooperate with any inquiry of this kind.”
Israeli forces killed possibly 15 armed protestors during the riots.
At least 10 of the 15 killed at Gaza border were members of terror groups.
The Army published a list of names, positions of men shot dead during violence at the security fence and Hamas acknowledges that five of them were gunmen from its military wing.
1. Mosa’ab Salol — 23 years old, resident of Zo’ida, active operative of the Hamas terror organization’s military wing. Neutralized by IDF troops near the Northern Gaza Strip as he and an accomplice fired at the troops.
2. Sari Abu Odeh — 28 years old, resident of Beit Hanoun, active operative of the Hamas terror organization’s military wing in the Beit Hanoun Battalion.
3. Jihad Frina — 35 years old, resident of Sheikh Radwan, Company Commander in the Hamas terror organization’s military wing.
4. Ahmad Odeh — 19 years old, resident of Gaza City, active operative of the Hamas terror organization’s Shati Battalion.
5. Hamdan Abu Amshe — 25 years old, resident of Beit Hanoun, active operative of the Hamas terror organization.
6. Muhammad Rahmi — 33 years old, resident of Shuja’iyya Turkman, active operative of the Hamas terror organization.
7. Muhammad Abu Amro — 27 years old, resident of Shuja’iyya Turkman, active operative of the Hamas terror organization’s tunnel-digging initiatives.
8. Abed Elrahman Abed Elnabi — 20 years old, resident of Lahia, active operative of the Hamas terror organization’s military wing.
9. Ebraheem Abu Sha’er — 29 years old, resident of Rafah, active operative of the Islamic Jihad.
10. Jihad Zuhier Salman Abu Jamos — 30 years old, resident of Bani Suheila, active operative of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.
So much for peaceful protests.
