{"id":1666,"date":"2018-04-24T18:28:35","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T18:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/?p=1666"},"modified":"2018-04-24T18:28:35","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T18:28:35","slug":"four-killed-in-gaza-as-weekly-protests-shrink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2018\/04\/24\/four-killed-in-gaza-as-weekly-protests-shrink\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Killed in Gaza, as Weekly Protests Shrink"},"content":{"rendered":"

www.nytimes.com<\/p>\n

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JERUSALEM \u2014 They came in smaller numbers. But the outcome was still deadly, and the victims this time included a 15-year-old boy.<\/p>\n

Palestinians protested for a fourth Friday\u00a0along the security fence dividing Gaza from Israel<\/a>, some of them burning tires, hurling rocks or flying kites with flaming tails in the hope of setting ablaze the fields of Israeli rural communities on the other side. The Israeli military distributed a photograph of one kite with a scrawled swastika.<\/p>\n

The military estimated the number of participants at about 3,000 in five locations along the Gaza border, down from at least 30,000 on March 30, when the protest campaign started.<\/p>\n

But by evening the Gaza Health Ministry reported four killed by Israeli sniper fire. One was identified as Muhammad Ayoub, 15. Amateur video taken on the Gaza side of the fence purported to show him shot while running with other youths, apparently empty-handed. Graphic photographs showed the teenager lying on the rocky ground, bleeding from the head, and later on a hospital gurney.<\/p>\n

His father, Ibrahim Ayoub, told a local Gaza-based news site: \u201cI thank Allah for taking him as a martyr. This is better than the humiliating life and tragedy we live.\u201d<\/p>\n

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300 Meters in Gaza: Snipers, Burning Tires and a Contested Fence<\/h2>\n

A fence that divides Israel and Gaza has become the latest flashpoint in the decades-old conflict, with Israeli soldiers unleashing lethal force against mostly unarmed Arab protesters.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>

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The Friday toll brought the total number of fatalities from the start of the campaign to at least 37. Hundreds more protesters have been wounded by Israeli fire.<\/p>\n

Israel has drawn international censure for using live fire against the mostly unarmed protesters who did not appear to present any immediately life-threatening danger to the soldiers.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On Friday, Nickolay E. Mladenov, the United Nations special coordinator for the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, denounced the shooting of the 15-year-old as \u201coutrageous,\u201d\u00a0writing<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter: \u201cHow does the killing of a child in\u00a0#Gaza<\/a>\u00a0today help\u00a0#peace<\/a>? It doesn\u2019t! It fuels anger and breeds more killing.\u201d He called for an investigation into the killing.<\/p>\n

Even as the numbers of protesters waned, the international campaign supporting the Palestinians received a boost this week when Natalie Portman, the Oscar-winning actress,\u00a0backed out of a major award ceremony<\/a>meant to honor her in Jerusalem. Representatives initially cited her distress over \u201crecent events\u201d in Israel. On Friday, Ms. Portman issued a statement explaining her absence, saying, \u201cI did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s military says it is acting to prevent any mass crossing of the fence and to prevent attacks against Israeli soldiers and nearby communities. The military said it was looking into the reports of the fatalities.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Israeli military said in a statement that people participating in what it described as riots were \u201cattempting to approach the security infrastructures,\u201d burning tires and trying to fly kites over the border with burning items attached to them. Several crossed into Israel, the statement said, and \u201cwere extinguished when required.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Israeli soldiers placing concrete blocks while building a barrier along the Gaza border fence on Friday.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Ahmad Gharabli\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The military added that it would \u201cnot allow any harm to security infrastructure that protects Israeli civilians, and will act against the violent rioters and terrorists who threaten either.\u201d The troops responded with tear gas and live fire.<\/p>\n

As in previous weeks, no injuries were reported on the Israeli side.<\/p>\n

The protests began as a grass-roots campaign but were quickly adopted by Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls Gaza. They are meant to draw international attention to the 11-year blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on the isolated, impoverished coastal territory. The protests also are meant to punctuate Palestinian demands for the return to lands in what is now Israel.<\/p>\n