Israeli forces opened fire on demonstrators in Gaza on Monday, killing dozens and injuring more than 2,400 people protesting the Monday opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.
As bodies fell on the border on what became the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 war, US and Israeli officials celebrated the opening of the embassy.
Demonstrations have quieted so we’re closing down the live blog for now. Here is a summary of today’s events:
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) insisted, however, that is was following protocol. The IDF said it killed three “terrorists” and struck five “terrorist targets.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was acting in self-defense. “Every country has an obligation to defend its borders,” he wrote on Twitter.
Senior US officials, including president Donald Trump, have not mentioned the protests in communications celebrating the embassy opening. “Big day for Israel. Congratulations!” the president said on Twitter.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo also ignored the deadly protests, while declaring the US was committed to advancing peace between Israel and Palestine.
Foreign ministries in the UK, France and Egypt expressed concern about the the violence. UK prime minister Theresa May’s spokesperson said: “We urge calm and restraint to avoid actions destructive to peace efforts.”
Trump did not attend the embassy dedication ceremony, but his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, a senior advisor to the president, went in his place. Kushner made a rare public address and said the opening of the embassy was an acknowledgement of the truth that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
Protests are quieting down in Gaza but they are expected to return tomorrow, a significant day for the Great March of Return movement, a Palestinian group that has held rallies at the border since 30 March.
At these rallies, demonstrators are calling for the right to return to homes they were expelled from in 1948.
The Great March of Return movement culminates on Tuesday, 15 May, which marks what Palestinians call the Nakba, when hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes or fled amid the fighting that accompanied the creation in 1948 of the state of Israel after the end of the British Mandate.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel acted in self-defense in by firing at protesters on the border.
“Every country has an obligation to defend its borders,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter. “The Hamas terrorist organisation declares it intends to destroy Israel and sends thousands to breach the border fence in order to achieve this goal. We will continue to act with determination to protect our sovereignty and citizens.”
Gaza City has seen three wars with Israel in 10 years, and everyone expects another will come.
The Guardian last month looked at the huge obstacles Gaza faces in making preparations for conflict, including factional tensions and a punitive blockade have caused debilitating shortages in fuel, electricity and medical supplies.
The Associated Press is reporting that Gaza’s health officials have increased the death toll to 52 and more than 1,200 have been wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza.
UK prime minister Theresa May’s spokesperson said: “We are concerned by the reports of violence and loss of life in Gaza. We urge calm and restraint to avoid actions destructive to peace efforts. The UK remains firmly committed to a two-state solution with Jerusalem as a shared capital.”
And Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, responding to the killing of Palestinians in Gaza today, said:
We condemn unreservedly the Israeli government for their brutal, lethal and utterly unjustified actions on the Gaza border, and our thoughts are with all those Palestinians in Gaza whose loved ones have been killed or injured as a result.
These actions are made all the worse because they come not as the result of a disproportionate over-reaction to one day’s protests, but as the culmination of six weeks of an apparently systemic and deliberate policy of killing and maiming unarmed protestors and bystanders who pose no threat to the forces at the Gaza border, many of them shot in the back, many of them shot hundreds of metres from the border, and many of them children.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo ignored the deadly protests happening in response to the US’s decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem, while declaring the US was committed to advancing peace between Israel and Palestine.
Pompeo, whose first trip overseas as secretary of state was to Israel, said in a statement:
Today I am proud to celebrate the opening of the United States Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem. This significant event fulfills a promise made by President Trump. As he proclaimed on December 6, 2017, ‘Seventy years ago, the United States, under President Truman, recognized the State of Israel. Since then, the State of Israel has made its capital in Jerusalem — the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times. It is therefore appropriate for the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.’
We remain committed to advancing a lasting and comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Foreign ministries in the UK, France and Egypt have expressed concern about the the violence, which has seen at least 41 people killed.
The Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, Oliver Holmes, has more details from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman, Lt Col Jonathan Conricus:
“As of now, no one has crossed the fence,” he said, adding there had been “several” attempts.
He said one Israeli soldier had been “slightly wounded by shrapnel” but he did not have details. “Our troops have not taken any sustained direct fire,” he added.