Well-known host Meidan says: I am ashamed to be Israeli

TEL AVIV, (Patria) - A well-known host of an Israeli army radio station said he was "ashamed" to be an Israeli citizen after at least 18 Palestinians were killed by snipers near the border with the Gaza Strip, a besieged Palestinian territory.

- Today I am ashamed to be Israeli - Kobi Meidan wrote on his Facebook page, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported, as stated by Al Jazeera.

Meidan's post angered Israeli army officials, and the commander of the military radio station, Shimon Elkabetz, suspended Meidan and his show.

At least 18 Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian gatherings demanding the return of refugees.

This happened near the border with Gaza on Friday.

More than 1,500 Palestinians were also wounded by sniper fire during the demonstrations, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The violent Israeli response to the Palestinian protests has drawn global criticism, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent and transparent investigation into the killings on the border with Gaza.

Friday's gatherings were the beginning of six weeks of demonstrations, which will culminate on May 15, a day Palestinians call Nakba, or catastrophe – the day Israel was created.

Protesters demand that Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to the cities and villages from which their families fled or were expelled when the state of Israel was created in 1948.