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Israeli Occupation Forces Kill More Palestinians Over Weekend During Weekly Friday Border Protests & in Airstrikes Targeting Gaza City on Saturday
Some ten thousand Palestinians in Gaza participated in the weekly Gaza border protests yet again last Friday (1/25), and more Palestinians were killed by the Israeli Occupation once again. A 14 or 15-year-old boy was reportedly shot dead by Israeli forces as he attempted to climb the border fence, while Ehab Abed, 25, was "critically shot on Friday in the chest along the fence east of the town of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip and died soon afterward," the AP reported citing the Gaza Health Ministry.
At least 22 other Palestinians were wounded by gunfire, including 14 minors, at several locations along the fence, it said.
The Health Ministry also reported that a 47-year-old man has now also succumbed to wounds sustained during the protests on Friday, passing away on Tuesday.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra identified the slain man as 47-year-old Samir Ghazi al-Nabahin.
He added that Nabahin had been struck by a tear gas canister in the face fired by Israeli forces on Friday east of al-Bureij in the central Gaza Strip. - Middle East Eye
12-year-old Mohammad An-Najjar who participated in the weekly protests two weeks earlier also just learned that he will never again be able to see out of his right eye, which was blinded - permanently damaged beyond repair by an Israeli tear gas canister - demonstrating the extreme danger of not only Israeli live fire but also the indiscriminate use of tear gas. The boy Mohammad was unarmed and did not take part in throwing stones or other projectiles...
Another Palestinian man was also critically injured on Tuesday, shot in the neck by Israeli live-fire while leveling ground near the border fence in Gaza, quite possibly for agricultural purposes.
Additionally, "The Israeli military carried out its largest airstrike campaign in Gaza since the 2014 war Saturday as Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel throughout the day, threatening to trigger an all-out war after weeks of growing tensions along the volatile border," the AP reported.
Witnesses reported that Israeli warplanes dropped four bombs on an unfinished building near a Hamas police and security compound in Gaza City, reducing the old structure to rubble. The four-story building is adjacent to a public park.
Two teenagers were killed in the strike and ten others injured, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The AP added that, "Striking in the heart of Gaza City is typically only seen during full-blown conflicts like the 2014 war and could signal that a further escalation may be in store." Is Gaza once again on the brink of a full-blown war and Israeli invasion in the style of 2014? Time will tell, but Israel made clear its intent to intensify these airstrikes if Palestinians retaliate to the Israeli aggression or continue to engage in other violent acts of resistance at the border protests.
"The Israeli army delivered its most painful strike against Hamas since the 2014 war and we will increase the strength of our attacks as much as necessary," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
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Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the latest Israeli sortie, the third of the day, struck some 40 Hamas targets including tunnels, logistical centers and a Hamas battalion headquarters. He said the escalation was the result of the sustained Hamas rocket attacks, its fomenting of violence along the border and its campaign of launching incendiary kites and balloons that have devastated Israeli farmlands and nature reserves.
(On Friday, "The [Palestinian] protesters burned tires and threw rocks and firebombs toward the heavily guarded fence.")
"Our message to Hamas is that we can and will enhance the intensity of our effort if needed," he said. "What Hamas is doing is pushing them ever closer to the edge of the abyss ... Hamas will have to understand that there is a price to be paid."
It certainly seems as though Israel may be gearing up for another large-scale war, particularly if the Palestinian Resistance factions which include Hamas continue to violently retaliate in response to the continued Israeli aggression. Israel says "Hamas will have to understand that there is a price to be paid" for resistance to the occupation, but it is the Palestinian People held prisoner in the besieged Gaza Strip who will end up dearly paying this "price" if Israel steps up its attacks on Gaza or decides to launch a full-scale war/invasion of the Strip, just as has already been taking place to a lesser extant during 10 months of weekly border protests.
The increasing violence seen at the weekly "March of Return" Gaza border protests since March 30 of 2018 is in large part due to Israel's refusal to even consider ending the 12-year land, air and naval blockade of the Gaza Strip which has created some of the worst humanitarian conditions in the world; inciting the oppressed and angry Palestinians to respond to the continued indiscriminate use of live fire and tear gas by Israeli forces at the protests with increasing violence of their own.
"Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from arming its fighters," however the blockade has been enforced for 12 long years and Hamas is still as well armed as ever, as the last large "mini-war" between the two sides about three months ago clearly demonstrated. And so the Zionist excuse for oppression of the Palestinian People in Gaza via the illegal and inhumane military blockade of the Strip is fully exposed as an absolute lie. The siege is NOT keeping Hamas from arming itself, nor does it hinder Hamas from carrying out attacks on Israeli territory or retaliating to Israeli attacks with rocket launches into southern Israel.
Yet despite the clear and obvious distinction between Israel as an Occupier, Oppressor and easily the biggest bully of the Middle East, and the Palestinians as the unfortunate victims of this Zionist bully seen in the many various forms of Israeli oppression, occupation and perpetual aggression being carried out against them; the Palestinian Resistance factions including Hamas have been altogether unable to effectively galvanize the international community against Israel's inhumane siege of Gaza and its many war crimes through their current path of violent resistance, nor have they in any other way attained the shared goals of the Palestinian People for true freedom and justice by either breaking the siege on Gaza or ensuring the right of return for Palestinian refugees to occupied lands seized by the Zionists between 1947 and 1968.
MEE reports that: "Israeli forces have killed more than 243 Palestinians and wounded another 26,800 since the beginning of the Great March of Return on 30 March.
The Palestinians have been steadfast in their spirit of resistance shown at the weekly demonstrations, and though garnering some international attention to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, this courage in the face of violence and death, and the steadfastness of the Palestinian demonstrators week after week after week at the border protests has done little to nothing to change the dire situation facing Gaza under brutal siege.
And week after week, more and more Palestinians protesting at the Gaza border fence are both shot dead and seriously wounded, which has "overwhelmed" Gaza hospitals with live-fire victims, creating a "burden [which] is too much to bear for the health system in Gaza in its current form, weakened as it is by more than a decade of blockade," Doctors Without Borders warned, adding that about 1,000 Palestinians shot by Israeli forces currently have infections that could leave them permanently crippled or even dead.
(MEE)
Nonviolent Resistance as the REAL Solution to the Never-Ending Problem?
It is quite understandable for the Palestinians to resort to violence in the face of an occupier which refuses to treat the Palestinians as equal human beings, especially considering the current situation in Gaza following over a decade of life under the crippling siege, but it is also apparent that this violence further fuels the conflict and 'justifies' further Israeli aggression in the eyes of the world. It matters not to the Zionists if Hamas or other Resistance factions are acting in "self defense," out of desperation, in retaliation of unwarranted Israeli aggression or disproportionate retaliations of their own; so long as Palestinians continue to resort to violent resistance, the vicious cycle of Israeli aggression and oppression continues unabated.
So what if the Palestinian Resistance tried a new method of peaceful resistance which would deprive the Zionists of their 'justifications' and excuses for continued enforcement of the inhumane siege and otherwise bombing Gaza and killing Palestinians in the Strip? It might sound crazy at first, but I think it would work; and if it didn't work, it would immediately show the entire world just which side in this conflict is the real 'bad guy', likely changing the course of history and the destiny of both Israel and the currently oppressed Palestinians.
About 10,000 Palestinian demonstrators have been showing up lately to the weekly "March of Return" protests, and Israel has accused Hamas of using these demonstrations as cover to carry out terrorist attacks in Israel. If, however, there was not a single rock thrown by Palestinians, no Hamas snipers employed, no firebombs thrown at the fence or incendiary kites or balloons flown towards Israeli territory by a single one of these 10,000 protesters, Israel could no longer use such a claim as its excuse to open fire on the crowds of otherwise mostly peaceful protesters.
Ten Thousand Fists in the Air, Marching as One
What if instead, as an incredibly courageous act of resistance and defiance to the Occupation, these ten thousand protesters began to peacefully march towards the border fence together, en masse, entirely unarmed and with their hands in the air, carrying only signs with slogans or waving Palestinian flags as they chanted in unison - "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" or "the siege ends today" or something of the like - what would the Occupation do?
If you've ever seen the film V for Vendetta, you will recognize the screenshot above from the final scene of the movie, when thousands of Brits marched on London armed with nothing but courage, a little anger, and Guy Fawkes masks acting as the symbol which united them as one; standing off against the Chancellor's well armed troops who were then forced to back down at the last minute as the revolting masses peacefully pushed through their ranks:
What if such a crowd of Palestinian protesters - full of men, women and children - continued marching in unity right up to the fence; would Israeli forces open fire on them? And what if they did, and the crowd continued to march, undeterred by the bullets flying, and they began to climb the fence by the dozens or even the hundreds, how many unarmed Palestinians would Israeli soldiers murder in cold blood before they realized their bullets can't stop a peaceful revolution, because ideas are bulletproof? Would they injure or shoot dead all 10,000 unarmed Palestinians, man, woman and child? Would that even be possible? And what if it was 20,000 or 30,000 or 40,000 completely unarmed Palestinians marching on the fence together as one, what would they do then?
Just imagine this, multiplied by 1000 or more:
It would be like 10,000 or more Palestinian "V's" as depicted in the scene above, except marching on the Gaza border fence instead, and I believe such an act would be truly powerful, beautiful and effective act of resistance. Such an act would surely gets the world's attention!
I truly believe such a courageous act of mass nonviolent resistance or civil disobedience if you will, would in all likelihood metaphorically disarm the Israeli bully and force the occupier to literally back down; "And if Israel's gov't doesn't accept the olive branch of peace they extend, their true colors would be exposed; which would be their undoing," just as 
This cycle of violence and the mass oppression of 2 million Palestinians (mostly civilians) has continued for far too long, and it is time to bring it to an end. Violent resistance of any form has not been working for the Palestinians no matter how 'justified' such acts are or appear to be. For the sake of all the Palestinians daily oppressed by the Israeli Occupation's continued enforcement of the 12-year inhumane siege of the Gaza Strip, including the many dozens who have lost their lives in the process of protesting this great injustice and tyranny, I believe it is time for the Palestinians to take the high road, forgive the Israeli enemy, and break the cycle of hate and vengeance fueling this bitter conflict.
This does not mean standing down, giving in, or ceasing to resist; it only means transforming a unified violent resistance into an entirely nonviolent one - for at least just one day. Yes this would take tremendous courage, but it is obvious the Palestinian youth already have hearts full of bravery most humans will never possess. And if this is truly the way to free themselves from the Zionist tyranny they are perpetually faced with, what do the Palestinians have to lose? They are already being killed, the injured are already being denied the right to leave the Strip for much needed medical care, and conditions in a Gaza under siege are barely livable! It certainly seems like a much better prospect than yet another full-blown Israeli war on Gaza in the style of 2014, which may otherwise be right around the corner...
Here's to hoping for peace and freedom to the Palestinians and all humanity. Until the day this dream becomes reality, the battle cry of the Palestinians will continue. #FreePalestine