At least 37 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured during clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza border. Protests have amplified as the opening ceremony for the US Embassy in Jerusalem gets underway.
Fresh clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians broke out on Monday on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, as protesters reached the climax of a six-week protest against the US moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Gaza’s health ministry said 37 Palestinians were shot and killed by the Israeli army — including a 14-year-old, leading the Palestinian government to accuse Israel of committing a “terrible massacre” in Gaza.
Palestinian government spokesman Yusuf al-Mahmoud in a statement called for “an immediate international intervention to stop the terrible massacre in Gaza committed by the forces of the Israeli occupation against our heroic people.”
It is the deadliest day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2014.
Conflicting sources have put the number of injured at between 227 and 500. The ministry said 200 were wounded by live fire.The Israeli army said in a statement its forces are “responding with riot dispersal means and fire, and are operating according to standard operating procedures” in response to “10,000 violent rioters.”
Jerusalem US Embassy opens Monday
Some 35,000 Palestinians have gathered at 10 different points along the border to protest the moving of the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem.
A lavish ceremony is due to take place later on Monday to mark the occasion.
The US decision has infuriated the Palestinians, who seek east Jerusalem as a future capital.