Palestinian authorities have announced a day of national mourning after 16 Gazans were killed by Israeli forces during protests commemorating Palestine’s so-called Land Day and called for a strike.
Friday’s Land Day marches, which embodied the demand of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to be allowed to return to their homeland, saw 16 Palestinians killed when Israeli troops opened live fire on the protesters, of which some 1400 were injured, including currently listed 20 in critical condition.
Schools, universities, public institutions and private businesses closed their doors in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip on Saturday – a working day for most Palestinians, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for a national day of mourning.
The funerals and burials of the 16 casualties, most of whom were in their twenties, are set to be held later on Saturday in the Gaza Strip.
More than half of Gaza’s 2 million inhabitants are refugees or their descendants, according to the United Nations.
Read the article in The New Daily (AAP).