The Committee of the Great Return March opened a park east of Gaza city in an effort to encourage residents to use the area near the Gaza fence.

The park, located near the fence between Gaza and Israel, has been set up in the area which has been deemed “unliveable” as a result of Israeli violence in the area. Called the “Return Park”, the area includes a playground for children. Ibrahim Musallam, media coordinator for the committee, said: “The occupation kills life in the buffer zones, so we shall revive these lands by encouraging people to visit without fear of being killed. The park is over 700 metres away from the fence.”

“This place was used for waste collections but from now on it will be a place of joy. We are willing to revive all the border areas from Rafah to Beit Hanoun in order to benefit from these large spaces,” he added.

To this end, Return Park is the first in a series of projects in five areas along the Gaza-Israel fence. This, head of the supreme commission for the Great Return March Khaled Al Batsh explained, proves that the peaceful marches are continuing until their aims are achieved. Football and volleyball fields are also being set up in an effort to increase peaceful projects which disproved Israel’s propaganda that Palestinians in the area are “rioters”.

Israel has killed at least 310 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and injuring more than 10,000 since the March of Return began on 30 March 2018.