Palestinians Mass at Gaza Border to Mark ‘March of Return' Protests

Tear gas canisters fall amongst Palestinian protesters during a demonstration near the border with Israel in Malaka east of Gaza City on March 30, 2019, as Palestinians mark the first anniversary of the "March of Return" border protests. MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
Tear gas canisters fall amongst Palestinian protesters during a demonstration near the border with Israel in Malaka east of Gaza City on March 30, 2019, as Palestinians mark the first anniversary of the "March of Return" border protests. MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
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Palestinians Mass at Gaza Border to Mark ‘March of Return' Protests

Tear gas canisters fall amongst Palestinian protesters during a demonstration near the border with Israel in Malaka east of Gaza City on March 30, 2019, as Palestinians mark the first anniversary of the "March of Return" border protests. MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
Tear gas canisters fall amongst Palestinian protesters during a demonstration near the border with Israel in Malaka east of Gaza City on March 30, 2019, as Palestinians mark the first anniversary of the "March of Return" border protests. MAHMUD HAMS / AFP

Thousands of Palestinians rallied at the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of a surge of protests, facing off against Israeli forces massed across the frontier.

Health officials in the Gaza Strip said 33 Palestinians were injured. They said ten people sustained injuries from live fire coming from Israeli troops, who also fired tear gas as dozens of protesters approached the fence.

Gaza medics said that one Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire before dawn on Saturday near the boundary.

Confrontations have mounted this week ahead of the commemoration of the 'Great March of Return' protests, which began on March 30, 2018. A Gaza rocket attack wounded seven Israelis north of Tel Aviv on Monday and, in response, Israel launched a wave of air strikes and ramped up its forces at the border.

The protests have turned deadly in the past and Egyptian mediators were working to avoid further bloodshed and ease Israeli restrictions on Gaza.

The protests call for the lifting of a security blockade, and for Palestinians to have the right to return to land from which their families fled or were forced to flee during Israel’s founding in 1948.

March 30 also marks "Land Day", an annual commemoration of the deaths of six Arab citizens of Israel killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations over government land confiscations in northern Israel in 1976.

Loudspeakers on the Gaza side of the border blasted national songs and medical field units were set up in case of injuries as Gazans flowed to the various protest sites under heavy rain.

The border protests have turned into a standoff between Gazans and Israeli troops.

About 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the protests started, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.



UK PM Starmer Recalls Cabinet to Discuss Gaza Peace Plan 

US President Donald Trump (R) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, 28 July 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump (R) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, 28 July 2025. (EPA)
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UK PM Starmer Recalls Cabinet to Discuss Gaza Peace Plan 

US President Donald Trump (R) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, 28 July 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump (R) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, 28 July 2025. (EPA)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will hold an emergency cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza and a proposed peace plan as he comes under mounting pressure from his own party to recognize a Palestinian state.

Starmer has taken the rare step of recalling his cabinet during the summer holidays to discuss how to deliver more humanitarian aid to Gaza.

In a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Scotland on Monday, Starmer discussed the need for a ceasefire in Gaza and what he called the "revolting" humanitarian crisis.

Britain is working on the plan with France and Germany after a call between the leaders of the three countries last week.

Starmer has not shared details of the plan, but over the weekend he compared the proposals to the "coalition of the willing", the international effort to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire in its war with Russia.

Starmer's spokesman said he would discuss the plan with other international allies and countries in the Middle East.

War has raged in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas for the past 22 months. Israel has been facing growing international criticism, which its government rejects, over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

With warnings people in Gaza are facing starvation, growing numbers of lawmakers in Starmer's Labor Party want him to recognize a Palestinian state to put pressure on Israel.

British foreign minister David Lammy will attend a United Nations conference in New York on Tuesday to urge support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

Successive British governments have said they will formally recognize a Palestinian state when the time is right, without ever setting a timetable or specifying the necessary conditions.

The issue has come to the fore after President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France would recognize Palestine as a state.

Starmer has so far rejected plans to immediately recognize a Palestinian state, saying he was focused on "practical solutions".

Last week, more than 200 British members of parliament from nine parties signed a letter Friday calling for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.