Here's what was reported when Palestinians attempted a peaceful protest a few years prior to October 7th.
Thousands of Palestinians took part in the almost weekly protests in the Gaza Strip, along the fence separating the territory that’s been blockaded by Israel for a decade. They were demanding recognition of their right to return to their ancestral homes.
Israeli soldiers fired bullets at protestors on the assumption that anyone – including people under the age of 18 – approaching the fence was a legitimate target.
Thousands of demonstrators have sustained severe gunshot wounds, mostly in the legs, shattering bones. Between the first protest and November 2019, more than 35,600 demonstrators were injured, 7,996 with live ammunition, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The acute and complex injuries sustained by protestors vastly exceed the available capacity and capability of the authorities and the few organisations working on the ground, including MSF. The surgical needs are enormous; we have tripled our surgical capacity in Gaza since the beginning of 2018, but our teams are overwhelmed.
