This year’s Palestinian Nakba Day, the holiday in which Palestinians mourn the creation of Israel, has been particularly active. Aside from the violence that has erupted in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, pro-Palestinian protestors from both Lebanon and Syria have confronted the Israeli northern border. A group of Palestinian refugee’s stormed and crossed the Syrian-Israeli border infiltrating Majdal Shams, an Israeli Druze village that was captured during the 1967 war. There have been reports citing that anywhere from a few dozen to 70 of the protestors managed to cross the border. IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai states, “The IDF has now stopped the advance of protestors at the Syrian border and are dealing with those who infiltrated.”
Thousands of people demonstrated in the Lebanese town of Maroun a-Ras. They too tried to cross the border, however, coordination between the IDF and the Lebanese army halted the attempt. Lebanese security sources have reported that four protesters have been killed and 11 more wounded. Around 50 protesters were able to reach the fence and began vandalizing it and throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. After calls to halt the stone throwing by both the IDF and various Palestinian factions were ignored, the IDF responded by opening light fire and throwing tear gas into the crowd. Mordechai said that the army was aware of casualties on the other side and that three Israeli soldiers were also injured. Police mobilized the Lebanon Border Unit, the Counter-Terrorism Unit and other special units to the North.
The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior IDF officer said Israel holds the Syrian government responsible for the protests and infiltrations, as they are attempting to distract the world from the serious problem going on within Syria.
Protesters Breaking Through Syrian Border Photo by: PANET
