At least 37 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli troops and dozens of others have been wounded as thousands of demonstrators gathered at the Gaza border ahead of the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.
The bloodiest day in Gaza since the end of the 2014 war came as Donald Trump praised the embassy move as a great day for Israel. Mr Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, will be among US officials attending the opening ceremony later today.
Palestinian health officials said a 14-year-old boy was among those killed in the first fatalities of what is expected to be a bloody day on the Gaza border. Hundreds more were reportedly injured.
The Palestinian Authority accused Israel of carrying out a terrible massacre and called for an immediate international intervention to stop the killing. Turkey said the US also bore responsibility for the bloodshed.
More than 70 Palestinians have been killed since protests marking the 70th anniversary of their displacement in 1948 began in late March.
Around 100,000 Palestinians are expected to turn out in front of the barbwire fence that separates Israel from Gaza to protest demand the Right of Return the right for refugees’ to return to their forefathers’ homes in what is today Israel and to denounce the US embassy move.
Israel’s military says that Hamas, the Islamist militant group which controls Gaza, plans to use the protests to try to breach the fence and carry out attacks against Israeli troops or nearby civilian communities.
Israeli forces have warned they will use live ammunition to prevent any breach of the border fence. That policy has been criticised by the UK and other European countries as well as human rights groups.
Protests have been happening on the Gaza border every Friday since March 30 but the demonstrations on Monday appeared larger and gathered earlier than previous demonstrations.
Israel has doubled the number of troops deployed along the Gaza border in preparation for the protests. Reinforcements have also been called in to the occupied West Bank to deal with potential protests there.
Israeli intelligence officials believe that Hamas is determined to breach the fence as a symbol of its resistance against Israel. They expect Hamas operatives among the protesters to use small explosives and wire cutters to try to get through.
Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets across Gaza on Monday, urging Palestinians not to come to the fence and telling them to blame Hamas for the desperate humanitarian situation. Hamas is taking advantage of you in order to hide its failures and is threatening you and your family members’ well being, said one leaflet.
Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said Israeli troops would open to prevent the crowd from coming through the fence. We will resort to selective live fire only when absolutely necessary. Our rules of engagement have not changed and our resolve remains the same, he said.
A small Israeli drone crashed in Gaza on Monday morning. Palestinians claimed it was brought down by a stone but Israel’s military said it crashed because of technical problems.
The violence in Gaza is unfolding just hours before the US is due to open its new embassy in Jerusalem, following Donald Trump’s controversial announcement in December that he was recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The opening of the embassy brings an end to an awkward 23 years for US policy on its diplomatic representation in Israel.
Congress passed a law in 1995 stating that the embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem but Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Barack Obama all used their executive powers to block the move, arguing it would damage the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mr Trump suggested his predecessors lacked courage as he announced in December that he was going ahead with the move. Israel is a sovereign nation with the right like every other sovereign nation to determine its own capital, he said.
Mr Trump flirted with the idea of coming to Jerusalem for the embassy opening, where he would receive a rapturous welcome from Israelis. He decided ultimately to stay in Washington but will address the ceremony in a video.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, applauded the move and said other countries were preparing to follow the US example and move their embassies to Jerusalem. I call on all countries to join the US in moving their embassies to Jerusalem. Move your embassies to Jerusalem because it’s the right thing to do, he said Sunday.
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the United States had forfeited its role as a mediator in the Middle East by moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem.
The United States has chosen to be a part of the problem rather than the solution with its latest step and has lost its mediating role in the peace process, Erdogan said in a speech at Britain’s Chatham House think tank.
Palestinian leaders are refusing to meet with the US in protest at the embassy move. Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official, called the move an infamous hostile act against international law and against the people of Palestine.
The Palestinian protests on Monday are the culmination of the Great March of Return, a series of weekly demonstrations that began six weeks ago.
The demonstrations are marking the 70th anniversary of what Palestinians call the Nakba, the catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of Arabs were displaced from their homes in the 1948 war with Israel. The marchers are demanding the right to return to their forefathers’ homes in land that is today Israel.
We want to return to our back to our lands and we will never give up. Even if during our struggle we lose parts of our body, we will struggle more and more, said Moayed Helles, a 24-year-old Palestinian who was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper during a recent protest.