(MENAFN- Palestine News Network) GAZA/PNN/
Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian and injured dozens more in mass protests along the fence separating the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied territories for the 48th consecutive Friday.
The spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, said in a statement that 15-year-old Yusuf Saeed Hussein al-Daya was fatally shot in the chest during a Great March of Return protest east of Gaza City.
Qidra added that 41 demonstrators were struck with live rounds and transferred to nearby hospitals. Three of the injuries were described as critical.
Among the wounded Palestinians was paramedic Fares al-Qudra, who sustained injuries when a tear gas canister hit him in the head.
Palestinians have held weekly protests on the Gaza border over the siege on the enclave and the right for refugees to return to their homes they were forcibly expelled from during the 1948 creation of Israel.
For its part the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in statement :" on Friday evening, 22 February 2019, in excessive use of force against peaceful protesters on the 48th Friday of the March of Return and Breaking the Siege, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian child and wounded 115 civilians, including 16 children, 10 women and a journalist, in eastern Gaza Strip. The injury of 3 of the wounded civilians was reported serious.
According to observations by PCHR's fieldworkers, the Israeli forces who stationed in prone positions and in military jeeps along the fence with Israel continued to use excessive force against the demonstrators by opening fire and firing teargas canisters at them. As a result, dozens of the demonstrators were hit with bullets and teargas canisters without posing any imminent threat or danger to the life of soldiers.
CHR emphasizes that continuously targeting civilians, who exercise their right to peaceful assembly or while carrying out their humanitarian duty, is a serious violation of the rules of international law, international humanitarian law, the ICC Rome Statute and Fourth Geneva Convention. Thus, PCHR calls upon the ICC Prosecutor to open an official investigation in these crimes and to prosecute and hold accountable all those applying or involved in issuing orders within the Israeli Forces at the security and political echelons.
PCHR hereby condemns the excessive use of force and commission of crimes by the Israeli forces despite the prevailed calmness, believing it is as a result of Israel's enjoying impunity thanks to the U.S. and so encouraging the Israeli forces to commit further crimes upon an official decision by the highest military and political echelons.
PCHR also reiterates its call upon the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances and their obligations under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
PCHR calls upon Switzerland, in its capacity as the Depository State for the Convention, to demand the High Contracting Parties to convene a meeting and ensure Israel's respect for this Convention, noting that these grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions regarding the guarantee of Palestinian civilians' right to protection in the occupied ter
More than 260 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30. Over 26,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.
The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14 last year, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.
On June 13, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by Turkey and Algeria, condemning the Israeli regime for the death of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
The resolution, which had been put forward on behalf of Arab and Muslim countries, garnered a strong majority of 120 votes in the 193-member assembly, with eight votes against and 45 abstentions.
The resolution called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to make proposals within 60 days 'on ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection, and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation,' including 'recommendations regarding an international protection mechanism.'
It also called for 'immediate steps towards ending the closure and the restrictions imposed by Israel on movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip.'
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