UPDATE - 6 Gazans martyred as ‘Return’ marches gather momentum

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, PROVIDES MARTYRS’ NAMES

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least six Palestinians were martyred by Israeli army gunfire on Friday -- and at least 420 have been injured -- near the Gaza Strip’s eastern border with Israel, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

“Since Friday morning, Gaza's hospitals have received six martyrs,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told Anadolu Agency.

Al-Qidra identified the slain Palestinians as Mohammed Kamal al-Najjar; Mahmoud Abu Muammar; Mohammed Abu Omar; Jihad Freina; Ahmed Ibrahim Odeh; and Mahmoud Rahmi.

“Gaza hospitals have also received 420 injured demonstrators,” al-Qidra said.

Since Friday morning, tens of thousands of Gazans have converged on the strip’s roughly 45-kilometer eastern border with Israel to reaffirm their right to return to their ancestral homes in historical Palestine.

Israel, meanwhile, has reportedly deployed thousands of troops along the border in anticipation of Friday’s mass demonstrations.

Dubbed the “Great Return March”, the demonstrations are also intended to pressure Israel to lift its decade-long blockade of Gaza.

The rallies have been endorsed by virtually all Palestinian political factions, which have repeatedly stressed the event’s peaceful nature.

Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has suffered from a crippling Israeli/Egyptian blockade that has gutted its economy and deprived its more than 2 million inhabitants of many vital commodities.

- Land Day

Friday’s rallies in the Gaza Strip also coincide with Land Day, which commemorates the murder of six Palestinians by Israeli forces in 1976.

On March 30 of that year, thousands of Palestinians in the northern Galilee region demonstrated against Israel’s seizure of large tracts of Arab land, prompting Israeli troops to enter the region in force.

Demonstrations first erupted in the town of Deir Hanna, which had earlier been the target of severe oppression by Israeli police.

This was followed by further protests in the town of Arrabeh, during which one Palestinian was killed -- and dozens more injured -- by Israeli forces.

The Palestinian's death triggered widespread demonstrations -- and violent clashes with Israeli troops -- in a number of other Arab communities, in which another six Palestinians were killed.