During the 44^th week of the demonstrations in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces used lethal and other forms of excessive force on Palestinian protesters, paramedics, and journalists. The documentation by Al Mezan Center for Human Rights shows that on Friday, 25 January 2019, Israeli forces killed one man and injured 153 other protesters, including 34 children, six women, five paramedics, and one journalist.  

Al Mezan’s documentation shows that Israeli forces escalated their use of tear gas canisters directly on protesters, with 63 protesters injured from gas canisters during the day. Al Mezan has documented the following casualties on the 44^th Friday of demonstrations:

• -- At 5:20pm, Israeli forces fatally shot Ihab A’abed, 24, a resident of Al-Shabora neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. He was wounded from a live bullet in the chest at the demonstration in east Rafah. Five minutes into his arrival at the field hospital in Al-Shoka area in east Rafah, A’abed died of his wounds.
• -- Nour-Eddein Mansour, 23, a volunteering paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, was wounded from shrapnel in his left foot.
• -- Ahmed Zaqout, a 32-year-old paramedic with the Ministry of Health, was injured by a tear gas canister in his left hand.
• -- Fadi Afana, a 23-year-old paramedic with the Ministry of Health, was injured by a tear gas canister in his left hand.
• -- Alaa’ Abu Al-Khair, 22-year-old paramedic with the Ministry of Health, was injured by a tear gas in his face.
• -- Yousef Zeno, 30-year-old paramedic with the Ministry of Health, was injured by a tear gas in his right hand.

All these paramedics were injured while evacuating and providing medical treatment to casualties at the demonstrations.

• -- Hasan Al-Jedi, 26-year-old journalist with Shams News Agency, was injured by a tear gas canister in his left knee. Al-Jedi, who is a resident of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in the Middle Area district, was injured while covering the demonstration in east Al-Bureij refugee camp in the same district.

Al Mezan’s documentation shows since the start of the protests on 30 March 2018, 261 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. Of the total fatalities, 184 were killed at the protests, including 36 children, two women, two journalists, three paramedics, and eight persons with disability, including one child. Another 14,075 persons have been wounded, including 2,928 children, 616 women, 168 paramedics, and 147 journalists. Of those wounded, 7,530 were hit by live fire, including 1,380 children and 150 women. The Israeli forces continue to keep the bodies of 11 fatalities, including three minors.

Al Mezan reiterates its condemnation of the use of lethal and other excessive force by the Israeli forces, including sharpshooters, to police demonstrations. Al Mezan expresses deep concern at the continued firing at unarmed protesters, paramedics and journalists, who are visibly marked as such. Al Mezan stresses that the right to peaceful assembly and free expression are fundamental rights and must be respected. Unarmed protesters not posing any serious or imminent threat to the Israeli forces must not be shot.

Al Mezan urges the international community to take prompt and effective action to ensure respect for international law and provide meaningful protection for unarmed protesters throughout Gaza. The duty to protect protected persons is a principal legal requirement and is, at this point in the conflict, a test of the authenticity of the international community’s commitment to their legal obligations, moral standards and humanitarian objectives vis-à-vis the Palestinian population.

The failure to hold to account perpetrators of human rights abuses encourages the advancement of harmful policies and practices. Al Mezan therefore calls on the international community to support accountability mechanisms and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice in accordance with international law. In this vein, the international community is called upon to support the UN Commission of Inquiry’s impartial and independent investigation into the apparent unlawful deployment of force against the unarmed protesters, journalists and paramedics.