Plan to Storm Fence Gets Bloody Preview in Gaza
He said the effort to breach the fence “shows exactly what we are talking about.”
“This is not a peaceful demonstration,” he said. “There’s nothing serene about this. They’re trying to infiltrate into Israel, damage our infrastructure and kill Israelis.”
Reminded that Israel’s critics have denounced the country for attacking unarmed demonstrators with deadly force, Colonel Conricus said: “They aren’t the ones defending Israeli citizens from a hateful mob of thousands of Palestinians. It doesn’t matter if someone is carrying flowers if he’s tearing down the fence. That’s a violent threat.”
Friday’s demonstration at the eastern edge of Gaza City — adjacent to the old Karni Crossing, a cargo terminal that allowed goods to cross between Israel and Gaza until it was shut down in 2011 — had been largely peaceful until late in the afternoon.
But then the senior Hamas leader Ismail Radwan gave a rousing speech, urging the protesters not to fear death but to welcome martyrdom.
“When we are brave, we are getting closer toward martyrdom, martyrdom, martyrdom,” he said.
Thousands began streaming toward the barrier fence, setting off a tremendous barrage of tear gas from the Israeli side that did not deter many.
Mr. Radwan thundered on: “We say to Nikki Haley, to Netanyahu, to the criminal Lieberman” — referring to the United States ambassador to the United Nations, the Israeli prime minister and Israel’s defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman — “we are afraid neither of death nor of martyrdom.”
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