Egyptian security forces clashed Monday with protesters demonstrating outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo over the anniversary of what they call the Nakba, the disenfranchisement of Palestinian Arabs during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence.
At least 40 demonstrators were injured and several were arrested when armed forces responded with rubber bullets and tear gas as a group of protesters tried to gain access to the building, Al-Jazeera reported.
The protest began peacefully with several hundred people demonstrating outside the embassy but clashes broke out when a group tried to enter the building, the report said.
On Sunday, over a dozen people were killed as Palestinian refugees and their supporters stormed the fences on Israel’s border with Lebanon and Syria, some managing to cross into Israel. The IDF and the Lebanese army opened fire to disperse the protesters.
Israel fired two tank shells and several rounds from machine guns as dozens of Palestinian protesters approached the heavily fortified border in the Gaza Strip over the course of the day, wounding at least 45 people, a Palestinian health official said.
Across the West Bank, thousands of Palestinians took to the streets, waving flags and holding old keys to symbolize their dreams of reclaiming property they lost when Israel was created on May 15, 1948.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said of the Palestinians who died, “Their blood will not go to waste… their blood was spilled for the freedom of our Palestinian people and for its rights.”
Abbas said the participation of a large number of people in the protests was proof that “right is stronger than time, and the will of people is stronger than the power of the oppressive forces and the occupiers.”
In reaction to violent incidents that took place on Israel’s borders on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was determined to defend itself and its sovereignty.
Netanyahu said that the Nakba Day protests were not about the 1967 borders, but rather about “undermining the very existence of Israel.”