Israeli forces shot and killed a 21-year-old Palestinian woman paramedic on Friday, as she was treating injured protesters during ongoing demonstrations along the Gaza border with Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip.
(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Israeli forces shot and killed a 21-year-old Palestinian woman paramedic on Friday, as she was treating injured protesters during ongoing demonstrations along the Gaza border with Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that 21-year-old Razan Ashraf al-Najjar, from the Khan Younis-area town of Khuzaa, was shot in the stomach as Israeli forces deployed near the border fence opened fire on a group of five paramedics, including al-Najjar, as they were aiding injured protesters near the fence.
Ths spokesperson of the ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra, added that more than 100 protesters were injured on Friday, 40 of them with live ammunition, while the others suffered from tear-gas related injuries.
Al-Najjar was one of at least two medics who had been killed by Israeli forces since the “Great March of Return” began in Gaza on March 30th. Since then, 119 Palestinians have been killed, including journalists and children.
The weeks-long civilian protest was initially planned to end on May 15, the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” when over 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes and made refugees with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
However, protests have continued since, and are expected to continue into the coming weeks.
Tensions have remained high in Gaza, as Israeli forces have launched dozens of airstrikes on the small coastal enclave, killing at least four Palestinians.
