2018年加沙边境抗议事件

The 2018–2019 Gaza border protests, also known as the Great March of Return (Arabic: مسیرة العودة الكبرى, romanized: Masīra al-ʿawda al-kubrā), were a series of demonstrations held each Friday in the Gaza Strip near the Gaza–Israel barrier from 30 March 2018 until 27 December 2019, in which Israel killed a total of 223 Palestinians. The demonstrators demanded that the Palestinian refugees must be allowed to return to lands they were displaced from in territory that was Mandatory Palestine and is now Israel. They protested against Israel's land, air and sea blockade of Gaza and the United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.

The first demonstrations were organized by independent activists, but the initiative was soon endorsed by Hamas, the governing party of Gaza, as well as other major factions in Gaza. The activists who planned the Great March of Return intended it to last only from 30 March 2018 (Land Day) to 15 May (Nakba Day) but the demonstrations continued for almost 18 months until the organizing committee for the Great March of Return announced on 27 December 2019 that they would be postponed. Thirty thousand Palestinians participated in the first demonstration on 30 March. Larger protests took place on the following Fridays, 6 April, 13 April, 20 April, 27 April, 4 May, and 11 May — each of which involved at least 10,000 demonstrators — while smaller numbers attended activities during the week.

Most of the demonstrators demonstrated peacefully far from the border fence. Peter Cammack, a fellow with the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, argued that the march indicated a new trend in Palestinian society and Hamas, with a shift away from violence towards non-violent forms of protest.……

Background

In 2005, Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza and allowed the Palestinian authority to take control.……

Gaza's "no-go zone" and border barrier

In late 2005, after the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the Israeli military imposed a "no-go zone" on the interior side of the Gaza–Israel border in response to rocket fire from Gaza falling on Israeli towns.……

Idea, organization, and strategy

The idea for a peaceful protest by Gazans demanding their right of return to Israel dates to the early 2010s. Ahmed Abu Ratima (pref. Artema), a Palestinian journalist, proposed a protest of this sort in a Facebook post.……

Timeline

Prior incidents

There was some violence between Israel and Gaza militants in the months leading up to the protests. In February 2018, four IDF soldiers were injured by an explosive device concealed in a Palestinian flag placed on the Gazan border fence during a Palestinian protest.……

30 March 2018

The first protest took place on 30 March 2018, around 500 to 700 metres (1,600 to 2,300 ft) from the Israel–Gaza border fence.……

Casualties

One Israeli soldier was injured due to shrapnel from a grenade thrown by a Palestinian from inside Gaza and one Israeli soldier was killed by Palestinian sniper fire near the fence but outside of the context of the protests.

Characterization of the injuries caused by Israeli fire

The Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) stated that the ammunition used by Israel caused severe internal damage to internal organs, muscle tissue and bones.……

Legal cases

Two Palestinians, Yousef Karnaz and Mohammad Al-Ajouri, each had to have one of their legs amputated after Israeli authorities denied their requests to receive medical treatment at a better-equipped hospital in the West Bank.……

Investigations

On 5 April 2018, the IDF announced that its Southern Command would conduct an internal investigation into the deaths of civilians during the prior week. Brigadier General Moti Baruch was appointed to lead a second government investigation.……

Tactics

Palestinian tactics

Observers from the International Crisis Group and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the majority of protesters acted nonviolently on 30 March and 6 April.

Tent encampment

Organizers set up five tents 500 to 700 metres (1,600 to 2,300 ft) from the border and during the campaign their number grew to several dozen.……

Worldwide protests

Demonstrations expressing solidarity with the protesters and condemning the use of lethal force by Israeli forces, were held in Israel, the US, the UK, and Australia. Thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, Washington D.C., Boston, London, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol, and Melbourne.

Reactions

States

The escalation of violence in Gaza drew concern from the Arab world. Jordan and Egypt condemned Israel's use of force, considering recent developments as harmful to brokering peace.……

Supranational organisations

Arab League: The Arab League condemned the continuous discrimination and violence against peaceful Palestinian protesters.……

Criticism of media coverage

The area of the conflict was subject to intense monitoring. On the Israeli side of the border, observers watched and filmed events using telescopes, long lenses, and feeds from the cameras, drones, quadcopters and tethered surveillance balloons hovering over the sites.……

Gaza war

Ahmed Abu Ratima (pref. Artema), one of the organizers of the original Gaza border protests, was seriously injured in an Israeli airstrike during the Gaza war;……