2018年CRI 2 Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza on Nakba Day

Two Palestinians have been reportedly shot dead during confrontations 1 with Israeli soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip as Palestinians marked the 70th anniversary of "Nakba" the "the Day of Catastrophe," which Palestinians use to describe the day after the founding of the State of Israel.

The Israeli army has reportedly killed 62 Palestinians and wounded more than 17-hundred others since Monday amid violent protests, with the violence prompting a wave of international condemnation 2 and concern.

CRI's Yu Yang has the story.

A United Nations Security Council meeting connected to the violence along the border between Israel and Gaza has begun with a moment of silence for the Palestinians killed on Monday.

The UN notes Monday represents the bloodiest 3 day in Gaza since the 2014 war.

Nikolay Mladenov, Special UN Coordinator 4 for the Middle East Peace Process, says its time for the fighting to stop.

"I call on all to join me today in condemning 5 in the strongest possible terms the actions that have led to the loss of many lives in Gaza. Israel has a responsibility to calibrate 6 its use of force, to not use lethal 7 force except as a last resort under imminent 8 threat of death or serious injury. It must protect its borders, but it must do so proportionally and investigate every incident that has led to a loss of human life. Hamas, which has controlled Gaza for over a decade, must not use the protests as a cover to attempt to place bombs at the fence and create provocations 9."

Mladenov also says the international community also has a responsibility in this situation.

"The international community must step in and prevent war. We need to move forward quickly and effectively on all projects that have been discussed for months and months to solve the energy, water, and health crisis of the population. We can only do this in coordination 10 with Israel, with the Palestinian Authority and with Egypt. But before all of that, the senseless violence needs to stop."

Representatives from China and Russia have also condemned 11 the violence in the Gaza Strip.

Russia has attempted to broker 12 meetings between Palestinian and Israeli factions 13 in the past, and has suggested it is open to this once-again.

China's ambassador to the United Nations, Ma Zhaoxu, says it is time for cooler heads to prevail.

"We express our condolences and a sincere sympathy to the victims and their families. And we urge that an objective and impartial 14 investigation 15 be undertaken to bring clarity to what happened. China has consistently advocated that the dispute between Palestine and Israel be settled through peaceful negotiations 16. China opposes any measures that will aggravate 17 tensions and cause casualties among innocent civilians 18."

Abdallah al-Mouallimi, Saudi Arabia's U.N. Ambassador, suggests the United Nations should be taking the lead in restarting peace talks.

"We are all for the peace program, we want the Security Council to reactivate the peace process. We want the quartet to be reactivated, we want a peace process that is based on international legitimacy 19 and based on all the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly. Such a process is very much needed and very dearly needed and if that is what is being offered, then we're all for it."

The Israeli army says that around 4-thousand Palestinians participated in violent protests Tuesday at five locations along Israel's border.

Since the start of the so-called "Great March of Return" mass rallies in late March, the Israeli army has reportedly killed 111 Palestinians and wounded more than 10-thousand others.