Israel: A terrorist and barbarian state. Shame to those covering and supporting it

ISRAELI warplanes blitzed the Gaza Strip today as the country continued to punish Palestinians for daring to hold peaceful demonstrations near the fence that seals off the territory.

The bombings came just hours after thousands of Gazans attended the funeral of 21-year-old paramedic Razan al-Najjar, shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers as she tended to wounded protesters on Friday near Khan Yunis.

Mourners waved Palestinian flags and chanted demands for her killer to be brought to justice.

Witnesses said that Ms Najjar was 100 metres away from the fence and was wearing her white paramedic’s uniform when an Israeli sniper shot her in the heart.

Her father Ashraf carried her uniform, soaked in blood, at the funeral.

Health Ministry officials said that 100 people were wounded by Israeli soldiers on Friday, including 40 shot with live bullets.

Four other paramedics were wounded as they tried to help people being shot at and tear gassed by the troops.

Ms Najjar’s mother Sabreen told the Middle East Eye website that the Israelis “know Razan, they know she is a paramedic, she has been helping treat wounds since March 30,” when the Great March of Return protests began.

“My daughter was a target for the Israeli snipers … it was not a random bullet,” she said.

Over 120 Palestinians have been killed and 13,000 injured by Israel since the peaceful demonstrations began, mostly shot to death. Ms Najjar is the second paramedic to be killed, after Moussa Abu Hassanein.

Another protester, 30-year-old Mohammad Naeem Hamada, died of his wounds yesterday evening after being shot by Israeli soldiers in the week.

On Friday evening, the United States vetoed a UN security council resolution that condemned the Israeli slaughter, while Britain abstained.

The draft resolution had called on UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to find “ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection and wellbeing of the Palestinian civilian population.”

Palestinian Fatah faction spokesman Osama al-Qawasmi condemned the “shameful and immoral” action of the US, which gives Israel $4 billion a year in military aid.

• Israeli forces have joined Nato militaries in the Western alliance’s giant annual exercises in eastern Europe. The “Saber Strike” wargames, involving 18,000 troops, are taking place in the Baltic states and Poland.