According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, 215 Palestinians were martyred and 14,815 injured since the start of the return marches in the eastern Gaza Strip on March 30, 2018.
The statement reads:
Injured (45) Palestinian civilians, including (17) children, and (3) women and journalist
With the attacks of the occupation on the participants on the 85th Friday of the march of return and the breaking of the siege
Forty-five Palestinian civilians, including 17 children, 3 women and a journalist, were injured on Friday evening, 20 December 2019, when Israeli occupying forces used excessive force against participants on the 85th Friday of the return marches and breaking the siege in the eastern Gaza Strip.
The occupying forces continued to use excessive force against demonstrators, injuring 11 of them with bullets and shrapnel, the condition of which was described as serious, as well as the targeting of the upper body with rubber-coated metal bullets, resulting in many injuries.
The Supreme National Commission called for return marches and the breaking of the siege for today´s demonstrations, under the name of "Hebron is incapable of judaization", in solidarity with the Hebron governorate in light of the Israeli settlement projects that it has recently targeted.
At around 2:00 p.m., residents began flocking to the five return camps in the east of the Gaza Strip to participate in the demonstrations, which lasted until around 4:30 p.m.
According to the center´s documentation, the death toll at the march since its inception on March 30, 2018 has risen to 215, including 47 children, two women, 9 people with disabilities, 4 paramedics and two journalists. The injuries rose to 14,815, including 3,735 children, 391 women, 255 paramedics and 219 journalists, some of whom were injured several times.
The details of the events of the day were as follows:
* Northern Governorate: The demonstrations began east of Jabaliya, and were punctuated by attempts to throw stones at the concentrations of the occupying forces inside the border strip. The israeli occupation attacks injured 15 citizens, including 5 children, a woman and a journalist. 3 people, including a child and an elderly woman, were injured by bullets, 11 were shot, 3 were children, and one was directly injured by a gas bomb, targeting a child. The injured journalist is Thaer Khaled Fahmy Abu Riash, 24, a photographer for The North Online, who was hit by a rubber bullet in the left leg.
* Gaza Governorate: Hundreds of people flocked to participate in demonstrations in The Queen´s area in eastern Gaza, and were targeted by the occupying forces with tear gas and rubber bullets, injuring a child with a rubber bullet in the face.
The government´s policy of "protecting the rights of the population" is a matter of concern. The shooting continued until 5 p.m., injuring six civilians, including a woman and a child. (3) People were hit by bullets and (3) with rubber bullets. The injured were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah and described the wounds of one of them as serious, Ibrahim Mahmoud Saleh Abu Al-Wooda, 24, who was shot in the abdomen and admitted to intensive care immediately upon arrival at the hospital, while the wounds of the others were described as moderate to minor. Dozens of people suffered asphyxiation from tear gas inhalation, a number of them were treated on the ground and others were taken to hospital for treatment
* Khanyounis governorate: Hundreds of citizens flocked to al-Awda camp, east of Khuza´a town, east of the province. Most of them remained in the camp yard to listen and follow the platform´s program, while dozens approached the border with Israel opposite the camp and tried to throw stones and Molotov cocktails at the occupying forces stationed inside the strip. They also fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators. As a result, nine citizens, including two children and a woman, were injured by rubber bullets. Dozens were also suffocated by tear gas inhalation.
* Rafah governorate: Hundreds of citizens participated in the demonstrations east of Al-Shawka neighborhood, and some of them remained inside the square of al-Awda camp, where speeches were delivered, a cultural contest was held and a song was displayed, while dozens of demonstrators tried to reach a distance from the border, throwing stones inside. Israeli occupying forces fired rubber bullets and gas canisters at demonstrators. As a result, 14 citizens were injured, including 5 children. Among the injured were two who were described as serious, one of them a child. (5) People were hit by bullets, 5 with rubber bullets and (4) with direct gas canisters. The two seriously injured were Hazem Khaled Abu Da´il, 20, who was shot in the neck and was taken to the Gaza European Hospital. Bassel Abdul Rauf Salam Al-Lawahi, 15, was shot in the upper thigh.
