Thousands at funeral for Gaza medic killed by Israeli forces

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Thousands of Palestinians attended the funeral on Saturday of a young female volunteer medic killed by Israeli occupation forces’ fire on the border in southern Gaza.

Razan Al Najjar, 21, a volunteer with the Gaza health ministry, was fatally shot in the chest by Israeli forces near Khan Yunis on Friday.

Ambulances and medical crews attended the funeral, with her father holding the white blood-stained medics' jacket she wore when she was shot. 

Gazans since March 30 have staged border protests demanding the return of Palestinians to their homelands from which they were forcibly displaced during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.

Following the funeral, several Gazans were wounded by Israeli forces east of Khan Yunis, health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra said. The UN envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, said in a Tweet that "Medical workers are #NotATarget!" and that "Israel needs to calibrate its use of force and Hamas need to prevent incidents at the fence".

The Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRC) said Najjar was shot "as she was attempting to provide first aid to an injured protester", with three other first responders also hit by live fire on Friday.

"Shooting at medical personnel is a war crime under the Geneva conventions," the PMRC said in a statement, demanding "an immediate international response to Israeli humanitarian law violations in Gaza".

Najjar's death brings the toll of Gazans killed by Israeli occupation forces’ fire since the end of March to 123.

The demonstrations peaked on May 14 when at least 61 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces as tens of thousands of Gazans protested the US transfer of its embassy in Israel to the disputed city of Jerusalem the same day.

Low-level demonstrations have continued since.

Speaking at Najjar's funeral, Khaled Al Batsh, one of the protest organisers, called on Gazans to "continue the return marches and break the [Israeli] siege with peaceful tools".