"Great March of Return" protests: Life of Palestinians one year on
March 30th marks first anniversary of Gaza's "Great March of Return" border protests and Land Day amid Israeli expansion of its settlements and continuation of it occupation and siege.
In this file photo taken on October 05, 2018 Palestinian paramedics carry a wounded protester during clashes with Israeli forces east of Gaza city, along the Gaza-Israel border in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians commemorate the "Great March of Return" border protests, which began on March 30 last year to demand the easing of the Israeli blockade and Palestinian's right of return to their lands.
In Gaza, organisers announced plans for a massive protest on Saturday along the border to mark the anniversary of weekly demonstrations at which Israeli forces have, according to Gaza medical officials, already killed nearly 200 Palestinians.
March the 30th is also Land Day, which is the annual day of commemoration for Palestinians, in response to the deaths of six people killed by the Israeli forces in demonstrations over government land confiscations in 1976.
From 1967 to 2014, the Israeli forces seized more than 100 square kilometres of Palestinian land, says the Israeli NGO Kerem Navot.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel occupies more than 85 percent of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians, who make up half of the population, have 15 percent.
Palestinian Analyst Khalil Tufekji says "there is a clear Israeli strategy. Israel says I am between the river and the sea."
"One state‚ that is the Hebrew state. On this basis, the Israeli side is expanding the Israeli colonies inside the West Bank," he says.
But the spokesman of Gush Etzion settlement Josh Hasten says he wants to see "more buildings and homes in Judea and Samaria."
TRT World's Mustafa Fatih Yavuz has more.
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