Liberman: Israeli soldiers "deserve a medal"

Shlomi Eldar reports that the Israeli defense establishment was feeling “nervous” in advance of the "Great Return March" protest, including an unusual threat by the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories warning the owners of 20 Gaza bus companies that "you and your families will be held personally responsible" if their buses brought protesters to the border.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the European Union and international human rights organizations have called for an independent investigation into violent clashes at the Gaza fence March 30, when as many as 30,000 Gaza residents demonstrated against the Israeli blockade. Fifteen Palestinians were killed and as many as 1,000 injured by the Israeli military. On March 31, the United States blocked a draft UN Security Council statement calling for an investigation.

While Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have claimed that Israel responded with live ammunition against protesters who were not armed with anything more than stones and tires, the Israeli government has responded that its forces were hit by Molotov cocktails and that most of those killed or injured were linked to Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organization.