Several thousands of Arab-Palestinians in Israel took part in Land Day marches across the country on Friday, while similar rallies in the Palestinian territories saw dozens injured and one dead. Arab and communist Knesset members were among the protesters, who wielded Palestinian and red flags. The chairman of Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel), MK Mohammad Barakeh, who spoke during the central rally in the Galilee village of Deir Hanna, blamed the government for promoting plans to transfer Arabs residents out of towns in the Negev and other parts of the country.
MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) attended a protest event at the Negev Bedouin village of Wadi al-Naam, and addressed the housing shortage in the region. "Land Day this year is overshadowed by a suburb construction plan that threatens to confiscate some 800,000 dunams of land in the Negev… which will cause a housing shortage worse than anything Jewish towns have experienced," he said.
According to Ma'an News Agency Israeli fire killed one young Palestinian man and injured over 30 others in clashes at two sites in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian medical official said Friday evening. Adham Abu Salmiya identified the victim as Mahmoud Zakot, 20. He was shot and killed near the Erez crossing, the official said. Thirty-one others in the Erez area were injured and taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital. In Khan Younis, six people were hospitalized. Three people were critically injured, Abu Salmiya added. Medics said the Israeli army used live fire to prevent protesters from approaching frontier barriers in the small coastal territory.
Hamas forces had set up checkpoints to prevent protesters reaching the border area, but many of the activists bypassed them, an activist who attended protests in Beit Hanoun said. Ebaa Rezeq says she witnessed at least six of the injuries which came after Israeli forces fired on a crowd that arrived at the border area. Rezeq says Israeli forces used live fire after they managed to remove a part of a metal fence near the wall. "People are falling here like flies," she wrote on Twitter. "Blood everywhere".
A young Palestinian protester in Bethlehem, meanwhile, was seriously injured on Friday afternoon after being hit in the face by a tear-gas canister, a Ma'an correspondent said. Muhammad Arafa, 20, was taken to hospital in Hebron. He was injured when Israeli forces fired tear-gas canisters and stun grenades at Palestinians who threw stones at a checkpoint in a rally marking Land Day.
Two other people have been seriously injured, the head of the Red Crescent in Bethlehem reported. Eleven people were hospitalized in total at a demonstration outside an Israeli checkpoint. Activists had called for the Global March to Jerusalem to commemorate the Land Day anniversary of Israel's killing of six Palestinians protesting against land confiscation in 1976. Thousands rallied at checkpoints around Jerusalem and in Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan. Israeli forces fired tear gas, stun grenades, sprayed foul-smelling water and used a "scream" acoustic device against stone-throwing Palestinians at Qalandia near Ramallah. Red Crescent spokesman Muhammad Ayyad told Ma'an that medics treated 249 protesters at Qalandiya and 20 were transferred to hospital. Israeli forces injured nine medics and damaged three ambulances at the protest, he added.
Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa called Friday for Israel to stop using excessive force against demonstrators. Ann Harrison said reports that dozens were hurt at demonstrations were "extremely worrying, particularly in the light of frequent and persistent use of excessive force against Palestinian protesters. "We are also concerned at reports that Palestinian Authority security forces have tried to prevent protests in areas under their control, while Hamas security forces have beaten protesters in Gaza. "All those involved in policing demonstrations should respect freedom of assembly and must adhere to international policing standards," Harrison said in a statement.
Related: Land Day Galilee and Negev massive rallies-
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