At least one Palestinian minor was killed and 41 others were injured, three of them seriously, by live ammunition or rubber-coated bullets on Friday, February 22, when Israeli forces attacked the weekly Great March of Return protests along Gaza-Israel border, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The military forces fired live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets at the protesters who gathered for the weekly Friday protests at several encampments along the border, killing 15-year-old Yousef Saeed Dayeh with a live shot to the chest and injuring 41 others. Three of the injuries were described as critical.
More than 223 Palestinians have been killed and over 23,000 others injured by Israeli forces since the start of the Great March of Return protests along the Gaza border on March 30, 2018. From the perspective of the number of victims to the violent repression of the march until now, the peak was reached on May 15, 2018 when Palestinians commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba of 1948, and Israeli forces killed over 60 Palestinians on that day alone.
Rally to Commemorate the Hebron Mosque Massacre
Hundreds of Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators marched along Shuhada Street in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday to protest against segregation in the city and the expansion of Israeli settlements. A 13-year-old Palestinian was injured by Israeli rubber-coated steel bullets which hit him in the abdomen and thigh, while another Palestinian was hit in the face by a tear-gas canister as Israeli forces suppressed a march in central Hebron City in the southern occupied West Bank.
Several other Palestinians were injured from tear-gas inhalation as clashes erupted between protestors and Israeli forces following a march commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre. Clashes erupted in the al-Shuhada Street and Bab al-Zawiya areas of Hebron City.
On February 25, 1994, Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque killing 29 and wounding more than 120. A 1997 agreement split Hebron into areas of Palestinian and Israeli control as well as the mosque, part of which became a synagogue — known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs. Some 800 notoriously aggressive settlers now live under the protection of the Israeli military in the Old City, surrounded by more than 30,000 Palestinians. The entire city of Hebron is home to more than 215,000 Palestinians.
Palestinians Injured by Israeli forces Northeast of Ramallah
Israeli forces quelled a Palestinian anti-settlement rally in al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah on Friday afternoon, injuring three Palestinians with rubber-coated steel bullets. Hundreds of Palestinians conducted Friday prayers in an open field near the village before joining a rally in the village to protest land confiscations.
Heavily armed Israeli troops deploying around the village opened fire at the protesters, injuring three protesters with 22 caliber live Toto rounds. One was hit in the chest and two others in the leg. The wounded were rushed to a Ramallah-based hospital for treatment.
Soldiers also showered protesters with stun and tear gas canisters, causing dozens to suffer from inhalation. These received treatment at the scene.
Villagers of al-Mughayyir organize weekly to Israel’s seizure of their lands and against continuous raids by settlers against the village. Such settler raids have resulted in the death of villagers, as in the case of Hamdi Taleb Nasan, 38, a father of four children, who was killed on January 26, 2019.