Gaza to launch 1st marine ambulance

The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip plans to launch the first marine ambulance to provide emergency medical assistance to protesters during anti-occupation demonstrations in the blockaded territory.

The move “demonstrates the dedication of medical personnel and their ability to take all measures to secure the lives of peaceful civilians,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement on Monday.

Palestinians have been staging rallies and naval protests against a 12-year long Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Since the demonstrations began on March 30, more than 190 Palestinians have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli troops deployed along the other side of the buffer zone.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year-long blockade of Gaza, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.