GAZA CITY — Two Palestinians succumbed early Saturday to injuries sustained in a protest on the border fence with Israel a day earlier, including a journalist shot by Israeli forces despite apparently wearing a vest that clearly marked him as press.
Video and photos of Yasser Murtaja, 31, being treated after sustaining a bullet wound to the lower abdomen, including one shot by Agence France-Presse news agency, show him wearing a blue and white protective jacket with “PRESS” emblazoned on the front.
Murtaja, who worked for a Gaza-based news agency called Ain Media, was one of six Palestinian journalists shot, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, which said they were all clearly identifiable as media. The Israeli military has maintained that the shooting into the border crowds is carefully targeted. It could not immediately provide a comment on how six journalists could have been shot.
“He was kind, gentle, and caring, eager to become the best journalist he could be, because his aim was always to document the Palestinian people's suffering,” said Rori Donaghy, a Middle East consultant and former news editor at the Middle East Eye website, who spent time with Murtaja in Gaza. “It's really sad.”
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said a total of 491 Palestinians suffered gunshot wounds on Friday, as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered at the border for the “Friday of Tires,” burning stacks of tires in an attempt to shield themselves from Israeli snipers during protests.
Hamza Abdul All, a 20-year-old from central Gaza, also died from his injuries overnight, bringing the total number of Palestinian killed in Friday’s unrest at the border fence to nine. A total of 31 people have been killed over the course of a week as Israeli forces have fired live ammunition into the crowds.
Residents of blockaded Gaza began what has been billed as six weeks of demonstrations against Israel a week ago. The protests are backed by Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, alongside other main Palestinian factions.
The Israeli military says it is forced to use live ammunition as Hamas, which Israel and the United States classify as a terrorist organization, is using the demonstrations as a cover to launch attacks, including attempts to plant explosives on the border and one shooting attack on the first day. It has maintained that the shooting is targeted and is a last resort used to protect the fence, its soldiers, and Israeli communities on the other side.
The majority of the crowd has been peaceful and the “March of Return” has drawn families to the border as well as first time demonstrators in what appears to be a wide cross section of Palestinians in Gaza. However, crowds of largely young men nearer the fence have thrown rocks and molotov cocktails.
After the first day of unrest at the border a week ago the Israel Defence Force’s official spokesman account tweeted that the military knew where “every bullet landed.” However, the tweet was later deleted.
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza has said that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been shot during seven days of demonstrations at the fence.
The Israeli military has said that the numbers should be treated with “extreme caution.” While they are difficult to fully verify, accounts of paramedics, medical officials, surgeons, hospital logs, and the sheer pace of gunshot injuries coming from the crowd at points during the protests have all pointed to similarly high figures. Most of those injured with live ammunition were shot in the legs in an apparent strategy by Israeli forces to largely aim for the lower limbs.
The Israeli military had dropped leaflets in the lead up to the protest instructing Palestinians to stay at least 300 meters away from the fence.
Adel Zanoun, an AFP journalist who runs the Gaza Center for Media Freedom, which provides journalism training for Gazans, said his 21-year-old cousin Ibrahim Zanoun was among the injured. He is in hospital awaiting surgery after being shot in the hand, he said. He had trained at the center and was working as a freelance photographer.
“He was just starting out,” said Zanoun.
Freelancers Ezz Abu Shanab and Adham Hajjar were also listed among those shot, as was Khalil Abu Athra, who worked for Hamas’ television channel Aqsa TV, and Mohamed Saber Noraldin, 32, a photojournalist with the European Photo Agency.
Israel has said there were at least 10 “known terrorists” killed in the first day of the demonstrations as evidence that its shooting is targeted. Hamas said five members of its military wing were killed a week ago. On Friday it told its supporters to cover their faces, amid speculation that Israeli snipers were picking off known militants in the crowd, while shooting other demonstrators in the legs.
Israel has remained defiant amid calls for an independent investigation into its use of live ammunition, including by the United Nations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the action of Israeli troops.
“Yesterday, yet again, the Israeli military used lethal force with no justification,” said Amit Gilutz, from Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, which launched an advertising campaign calling for soldiers to refuse to fire on unarmed protesters in Gaza. “Shooting live ammunition at unarmed protesters who pose no threat is immoral, and a command ordering it is manifestly illegal.”
Hazem Balousha in Gaza City and Sufian Taha in Jerusalem contributed to this story.
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