Gazan journalist shot by Israeli forces arrives in Ramallah for treatment

The Palestinian Red Crescent transferred Ahmad Abu Hussein from Gaza to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday after he was shot in the abdomen by Israeli soldiers on Friday.

Tel Aviv initially refused to allow Abu Hussein into the West Bank but was then transferred following an intervention by the Red Cross and the World Health Organization.

The Israeli military has been accused of deliberately targeting journalists after Yasser Murtaja, a well-known 

Gaza reporter, was killed last Friday as he covered the protests.

Israel's excessive use of lethal force against unarmed protesters has been widely condemned as a massacre and caused international outrage.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) called for an end to war crimes being carried out in Gaza by Israel.

In addition to the 29 official deaths since the beginning of the Great Return March protests on March 30, two more bodies of Palestinians are being held by Israeli forces, and have not been given back to their families for burial.

A prominent Palestinian official told al-Araby al-Jadeed that the leaders of Hamas have been contacted by international and Arab parties, who called on them to stop protesters from approaching Gaza's border fence and to prevent any further demonstrations marking the Great Return March.

According to the source, "Hamas has refused such orders to prevent the march, affirming that it is a popular movement of the public, and no one has the right to prevent them from marching, in light of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza".

The Great Return March this year coincided with Land Day, commemorated every March 30 to remember the six Palestinians killed while defending their homes from Israeli forces in 1976. 

The protests are set to continue for six weeks, until the anniversary of the Nakba in mid-May, to call for the implementation of the right for Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, as well as the end to the Israeli blockade of the enclave.