31 March 2018•Update: 31 March 2018
By Mehmet Akif Turan
RABAT, Morocco
Prime Minister Saadeddine Al-Othmani joined a number of world leaders Friday in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza.
At least 14 Palestinians demonstrators were martyred and 1,500 others injured in the attacks against peaceful demonstrations.
A Palestinian farmer was also martyred when an Israeli artillery shell struck his land in the southern Gaza Strip.
"According to Palestinian Ministry of Health, 14 were martyred and more than 1400 were injured in clashes with the Zionist Israel. We eagerly wait for the day when Palestinians will achieve their freedom and independent state,” Al-Othmani said on Twitter.
He also offered condolences for those killed in the attacks and wished a recovery for the injured.
Kuwait also condemned the attacks on Palestinian demonstrators, an official source at that country’s foreign ministry said Friday.
"Kuwait has followed up, with a great sorrow, reports of Israel's brutal attacks on the Palestinian demonstrators that are in defiance of international resolutions and violation of all international norms,” according to Kuwait's official KUNA news agency.
The KUNA report also said Kuwait "called on the Security Council to shoulder its historic responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security, and combating immediately the Israeli repressive practices against Palestinians."
Separately, Qatar's ministry of foreign affairs released a statement that strongly condemned Israel’s attacks that used live ammunition and it said Israel escalating tensions via the military as dangerous and a violation of international agreements and resolutions.
Also joining in the chorus of condemnation was Egypt’s foreign ministry and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Tens of thousands of Gazans have converged on the Strip’s roughly 45-kilometer long (28-mile) eastern border with Israel to demand their right to return to their ancestral homes in historical Palestine.
Israel deployed thousands of troops along the border in anticipation of the mass demonstrations.
Dubbed the “Great Return March”, the protests are also intended to pressure Israel to lift its decade-long blockade of Gaza.
The rallies have been endorsed by virtually all Palestinian political factions, which have repeatedly stressed the event’s peaceful nature.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has suffered from a crippling Israeli/Egyptian blockade that has gutted its economy and deprived its more than 2 million residents of vital commodities.
*Merve Aydogan in Ankara also contributed this story.
