For 42 weeks Amal al-Taramsi had never stopped participating in the March of Return rallies on the Gaza border hoping to return one day to Hirbiya her native village but an Israeli sniper suddenly deprived her of achieving that and cold-bloodedly shot her dead on January 11 2016.
Taramsi 45 was about 250 meters away from the Israeli security fence east of Gaza City when a malicious sniper bullet penetrated her head; she is considered the first March of Return martyr during the new year 2019.
She is also the third Palestinian woman killed since the start of the March of Return rallies. However her departure has been very painful for her family and friends who always supported her participation in the March of Return protests.
Among those who is still grieving over the martyr’s absence is her lifelong friend Rida Mushtahi who became unable to take part in the protests after she was shot by an Israeli soldier in one of her feet.
Mushtahi cried her eyes out as she was talking about the last moments with Taramsi and how she went to al-Shifa Hospital in a wheelchair because of her injury after hearing about the heartrending news of her friend’s death.
In her talk to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) Mushtahi said that the Palestinian women in Gaza would remain steadfast and continue to participate in the March of Return protests despite their exposure to deliberate targeting by the Israeli occupation forces.
“They want to punish the women for their participation in the March of Return rallies and dissuade them from taking part in them but we declare that we will continue to participate in the protests and we will forcibly extract our rights” she said.
She asserted that Taramsi had never been absent from the March of Return rallies since March 30 when the first border protest kicked off.
On the day of her death she told her brother Khaled with a smile on her face that she was going out to obtain her martyrdom when he just woke up and asked her where she was going.
Her brother described his sister as “the pillar of the house” which the family lost affirming that the entire family is very proud of her and her courage.
“Amal was the second mother to us [in the house] and she was the main supporter for our sick mother” he said.
For more than nine months Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip have protested along the fence with Israel demanding their right to return to the homes and land their families were expelled from 70 years ago and an end to the blockade .
Since the protests began on March 30 2018 the Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 260 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded more than 22000 people according to health officials in Gaza.
