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REPORT ON THE GREAT MARCH OF RETURN

BY

ROMANA RUBEO

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A. INTRODUCTION

1. I have been instructed by Riverway Law to provide a report on matters within my expertise in support of the application to the British Home Secretary to deproscribe Harakat al-Muqawwamah al-Islamiyyah (‘Hamas’).

2. The purpose of this report is to explain the underlying reasons behind the Great March of Return, the peaceful nature of the initiative, and the significance of the role Hamas played in it.

B. QUALIFICATIONS

3. I give this report in my personal capacity

4. Romana Rubeo is a journalist and translator based in Italy. She is the managing editor of the Palestine Chronicle where she contributes extensively on issues related to the Middle East. Her work also appears in various academic journals and online publications, often highlighting Palestinian issues.

5. Rubeo holds a Master's degree in Foreign Languages and Literature. She has a specialization in translation, focusing on both audiovisual media and journalism, which enhances her contributions to international media outlets.

6. Rubeo often collaborates with other prominent figures, such as Dr. Ramzy Baroud and Professor Ilan Pappé to provide commentary on current political issues, including Israel-Palestine relations and global indigenous movements​.

7. As a respected voice on Palestinian issues, Rubeo’s journalism has contributed to global conversations about conflict, activism, and rights in the Middle East through debates, conferences, presentations, and media interviews, especially through her editorial influence at The Palestine Chronicle.

8. In writing the present report I have relied principally on:

Abusalim, Jehad. 2018. “The Great March of Return: An Organizer’s Perspective.” Journal of Palestine Studies 47 (4): 90–100. ETC.

“Right to Return - Human Rights Watch Policy Page.”

“Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (a/HRC/40/74) - Occupied Palestinian Territory.” 2019

Edward W. Said: The Question of Palestine. New York: Times Books, 1979.

C. DEFINITION AND AIM OF THE GREAT MARCH OF RETURN

9. The Great March of Return in Gaza (Arabic: مسیرة العودة الكبرى, Masīra al-ʿawda al-kubrā) was a series of weekly protests advocating for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historic Palestine – today’s Israel – and for an end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza.

10. The Great March of Return started on March 30, 2018, marking Palestinian Land Day, a day of commemoration for six unarmed Palestinians who were killed by Israeli occupation forces on March 30, 1976, while protesting against the seizure of land by the Israeli government in Sakhnin and Arraba.

11. The Great March of Return lasted until December 27, 2019.

12. The Right of Return for Palestinians, which has solid foundations in international law, applies not only to those who originally were exiled or forced to flee from their cities, towns and villages, but also to their descendants.

See Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 10, 1948), Article 13(2), stating that "everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country".

Also see United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (III) of December 11, 1948, affirming that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

13. Palestinian refugees were forcibly removed from their lands, villages and towns in 1948, during the Nakba (‘catastrophe’ in Arabic), which refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians by Israeli militias.

14. According to the United Nations website, the “Nakba had a profound impact on the Palestinian people, who lost their homes, their land, and their way of life. It remains a deeply traumatic event in their collective memory and continues to shape their struggle for justice and for their right to return to their homes.”

See Vs. 2024. “About the Nakba - Question of Palestine.” Question of Palestine. June 27, 2024.

15. Edward Said, a prominent Palestinian intellectual, described the Nakba as an unparalleled rupture in Palestinian history, a violent expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and lands in 1948 during the establishment of the state of Israel. He viewed the Nakba as not only a physical displacement but also a profound psychological and cultural trauma that shattered Palestinian society, leaving an enduring legacy of dispossession, exile, and resistance.

16. In his seminal volume ‘The Question of Palestine’, he wrote that “For the Palestinians, the establishment of Israel meant the destruction of their society and the beginning of a refugee problem that has haunted them ever since. It was, for them, a continuous catastrophe—a Nakba—that disfigured time, place, and memory.”

17. He also wrote that “The Nakba was not simply an event of the past; it was and remains an ongoing process, a living reality for Palestinians wherever they are.” Palestinians often refer to this concept as Al-Nakba Al-Mustamirra, the Ongoing Nakba.

See Edward W. Said: The Question of Palestine. New York: Times Books, 1979.

18. Said also reflected on the enduring impact of the Nakba as a profound psychological and cultural trauma. “The tragedy of the Nakba is not just in the act of displacement but in the continued refusal of acknowledgment, the denial of justice,” he said during a speech at Columbia University in 1997.

19. In this context, that of a continuous Nakba and exile, Gaza’s March of Return reflected the collective agonies of the past, but also the ever-worsening living conditions of the present. Thus it aimed to raise global awareness of the Palestinian refugee issue, and its perpetuation over time. Throughout the 11 years that followed Israel’s imposition of its siege on Gaza in 2006-07, civilians in the Gaza Strip – 70% of whom are registered refugees expelled from areas now within Israel – have endured the harsh effects of Israel’s blockade, deemed illegal under international law, along with several devastating wars. These wars have severely damaged Gaza’s essential infrastructure, crippled its health system, and wrecked its economy.

20. The protests also aimed to demand the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel and to call for an end to the blockade.

21. The protests reached their peak on May 14, 2018, coinciding with the controversial relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, when Palestinians mark the mass displacement and dispossession of 1948-49 following Israel’s creation. On that day alone, Israeli forces killed 59 Palestinians, exemplifying a shocking use of excessive force and live ammunition against protesters who posed no imminent threat to life.

22. Notably, these protests were largely organized by civil society, underscoring a push for peaceful methods of popular mobilization and resistance. The organizers of the Great March of Return have consistently emphasized that the protests were meant to be peaceful, with participants mainly demonstrating near the fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel.

23. Although Hamas did not directly organize the protests, it has supported them, which was understood to be a shift in Hamas’ position towards a non-violent approach to resistance. As prominent scholar Tareq Baconi noted, “[t]he protest emerged as a civil society-led effort that was given permission, supported, and ultimately managed by a committee comprising the various political parties in Gaza, including Hamas. As a governing authority, Hamas provided much of the infrastructure necessary for the mobilization, such as buses to transport activists. This was a stark departure from the means with which Hamas traditionally challenged the blockade.”

See ‘What Was Hamas Thinking?’, Foreign Policy, November 22, 2023

24. In an April 9, 2018, speech, the late leader of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh – who was assassinated by Israel on July 31, 2024 – seemed to be symbolically underscoring this strategy while standing in front of a banner featuring images of international historical figures known for their endorsement of non-violent, popular resistance, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela.

See Al Jazeera Mubasher, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bk98wcTw3U.

25. Haniyeh articulated his position on peaceful resistance in a June 2018 article summarized in Al-Jazeera Arabic, citing the British website Middle East Eye, emphasizing that, “If we can secure our rights through peaceful means, this is our preferred path. However, if peaceful efforts fail, our right to resist the occupation by all means, including armed resistance, remains legitimate and recognized.”

See ‘Haniyeh writes to a British website: These are the goals of the return marches’, Al-Jazeera, June 7, 2018.

26. Signs that Hamas was in the process, or at least considering the possibility, of shifting its methods of Resistance were met with increased Israeli violence. In fact, as peaceful Palestinian protesters began gathering en masse, the Israeli army bolstered its presence by deploying tanks, military vehicles, and soldiers, including snipers, along the Gaza-Israel border, issuing orders to fire on anyone approaching within several hundred meters of the fence.

27. Throughout the nearly two years of protests, there have been instances during most protests where groups approached the fence, attempting to damage it, burning tires, and throwing stones at Israeli forces. Additionally, incendiary kites and balloons were launched into Israeli territory, causing damage to agricultural land and nature reserves. These incidents received disproportionate attention from mainstream corporate media despite the evident imbalance of power between limited groups of protesters and Israeli forces deployed across the fence.

28. According to official figures provided by the Palestinian Health Ministry, over 300 people were killed by Israeli forces while thousands were wounded.

See Knell, Yolande and Abu Alouf, Rushdi 2023. “Explosion Near Gaza Boundary Wall Kills Five Palestinians.” BBC September 14, 2023.

29. Amnesty International noted that “the devastating toll on civilian lives in Gaza should not be measured solely by the number of Palestinians killed, but also by the number of injuries”.

30. Doctors in Gaza have reported to Amnesty International that many of the severe injuries they have treated involve the lower limbs, particularly the knees. “Many have suffered extreme bone and tissue damage, as well as large exit wounds measuring between 10 and 15mm, and will likely face further complications, infections and some form of physical disability, such as paralysis or amputation.”

See Amnesty International. 2021. “Six Months on: Gaza’s Great March of Return.” June 15, 2021.

31. A report published in the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz on March 6, 2020, revealed harrowing details of the military protocol followed by Israeli army snipers during the Great March of Return. The report, written by Israeli journalist Hilo Glazer included testimonies of six Israeli snipers who took part in the army violence targeting peaceful protesters in Gaza. The testimonies revealed that aiming at protesters’ lower limbs was a deliberate strategy implemented by the Israeli army.

See Glazer, Hilo. 2020. “‘42 Knees in One Day’: Israeli Snipers Open up About Shooting Gaza Protesters - Israel News.” Haaretz.Com, March 6, 2020.

32. At least three medical workers were shot and killed by Israeli forces during the Great March of Return while at least 115 paramedics and medical workers were injured. On June 1, 21-year-old Razan al-Najjar, a Palestinian paramedic, was shot in the chest and killed by Israeli sniper fire while providing first aid to injured protesters. Al-Najjar was killed despite wearing her white coat, clearly identifying her as a medic.

33. According to figures provided by Palestinian human rights organizations in Gaza, at least 31 children were killed in the first six months alone.

34. Several journalists were also killed and hundreds wounded while covering the protests. On April 6, 2018, Palestinian journalist Yasser Mortaja was killed on the spot by Israeli snipers. On April 25, 2018, Ahmed Abu Hussein died in hospital from wounds he sustained while covering the protest on April 13.

D. ISRAEL’S VIOLATIONS

35. Repressive methods employed by Israeli forces during the Great March of Return were deemed unlawful by several rights groups and international bodies.

36. On February 28, 2019, the United Commission of Inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued the report A/HRC/40/74. The report, “submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-28/1, the independent international commission of inquiry investigates the demonstrations held in Gaza between 30 March and 31 December 2018, the response of Israeli security forces to the demonstrations and the impact on civilians in Gaza and Israel.”

37. The commission, mandated “to focus on accountability and identifying those responsible for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law (...) found reasonable grounds to believe that some violations may constitute international crimes.”

38. The UN report found that Israel’s rules of engagement permitted live fire at demonstrators. They also permitted “snipers to shoot at the legs of ‘main inciters’ and the use of “lethal force against any demonstrators ‘directly participating in hostilities’”.

39. The commission concluded that the “demonstrations were civilian in nature” and that, “despite some acts of significant violence, did not constitute combat or a military campaign”. For this reason, the legal framework applicable “was that of law enforcement, based in international human rights law”.

40. In this framework, potentially lethal force can only be used in the case of self-defense “or for the defense of others when there is an imminent threat to life”.

41. After investigating 189 fatalities and more than 300 injuries caused by the Israeli army throughout the Great March of Return, the Commission concluded that “with the exception of one incident in North Gaza on 14 May that may have amounted to 'direct participation in hostilities' and one incident in Central Gaza on 12 October that may have constituted an imminent threat to life or serious injury to the Israeli security forces, the commission found reasonable grounds to believe that, in all other cases, the use of live ammunition by Israeli security forces against demonstrators was unlawful.”

42. The commission also indicated that Israeli forces shot Palestinians “who were hundreds of meters away from the Israeli forces and visibly engaged in civilian activities”, as well as “journalists and medical personnel who were clearly marked as such”.

43. According to the findings, Israeli forces also opened fire at “children, women and persons with disabilities”.

44. Since Israeli forces killed and maimed Palestinians who did not pose an imminent threat and were not participating in ‘hostilities’, the Commission “found reasonable grounds to believe that demonstrators were shot in violation of their right to life or of the principle of distinction under international humanitarian law.”

45. Moreover, the right to life also includes the right to a life with dignity. “The commission found that the ongoing blockade of Gaza and its impact on the health-care system in Gaza, and the ensuing deprivation of essential goods and services necessary for a dignified life, including basic medical supplies, safe drinking water, electricity and sanitation, constitute violations of the fundamental rights to life and health, in particular of wounded demonstrators.”

46. This is even more serious as Israel, as the occupying power, has “obligations under international law to ensure the health and welfare of the Palestinian population.”

47. Demonstrators were not allowed to exercise that freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly, and of association, protected by international human rights law.

48. The commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Israel violated children’s “rights to life, peaceful assembly, expression and the highest attainable standard of health, among other rights,” protected by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

49. The commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Israel violated the customary and conventional international humanitarian law requiring that “medical personnel be respected and protected”.

50. Similarly, the commission found reasonable grounds to believe that Israel violated the right to protection afforded to journalists.

51. In this regard, Reporters Without Borders, an international non-profit and non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris and focused on safeguarding the right to freedom of information, registered “more than 140 Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists”.

See “Israel-Palestine : Four Years of Violence Against Palestinian Journalists Covering ‘March of Return’ Protests.” RSF.

52. RSF also noted that at least 144 Palestinian journalists have been at the receiving end of live rounds, rubber bullets, stun grenades or teargas fired by Israeli soldiers or police – or their baton blows – in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the protests.

E. CONCLUSION

53. The Great March of Return was a Palestinian civil society initiative that was sustained over the course of nearly two years. It highlighted the dire humanitarian and political crisis faced by Palestinians in Gaza, underscoring their demands for the right of return and an end to the Israeli blockade. Despite its largely peaceful nature, the protests were met with excessive and often lethal force by Israeli security forces, resulting in over 300 deaths and thousands of injuries, including children, medical workers, and journalists. Reports by international human rights organizations and the UN indicate that Israel’s use of live ammunition violated principles of international human rights and humanitarian law, including the right to life, freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly.

54. The systematic targeting of civilians, including the deliberate maiming of protesters, the killing of marked medics, and the restriction of basic human necessities, reflects grave violations of international legal standards. Moreover, the blockade has exacerbated the suffering of Gaza’s population, depriving them of a dignified life and essential services. The disproportionate and unlawful response to the protests calls for accountability under international law. Not only did the Great March of Return expose the human toll of these violations but it underscored the urgency of addressing the root causes of the conflict to ensure justice, human rights, and lasting peace for Palestinians.

E. EXPERT OBLIGATIONS

55. I confirm that I have made clear which facts and matters referred to in this report are within my own knowledge and which are not. Those that are within my own knowledge I confirm to be true. The opinions I have expressed represent my true and complete opinions on the matters to which they refer.

56. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought by anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

57. I confirm that I have not received any remuneration for preparing this report.

Romana Rubeo

Tagliacozzo (AQ)

Italy

28 December 2024