“I strongly condemn Israel's attacks, the unneeded and completely disproportional use of force against unarmed Palestinian civilians who wanted to draw attention to their exceptionally difficult position with peaceful protests,” said member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic.

The incident, which saw the death of 17 Palestinians while another 1.400 were injured, took place on the March 31 Land day, which commemorates the killing of six Palestinians 42 years ago during protests against Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Izetbegovic said that, after years-long economic sanctions and with a completely destroyed infrastructure, the Gaza Strip is at the edge of collapse.  

He emphasized that Gaza citizens only get electricity for four hours a day and that most of the population has no access to clean drinking water, while 70 percent of the population lives on less than two U.S. Dollars daily.  

“I appeal to the international community, above all to the UN and the EU, to take all possible actions under their competencies to avoid further escalation of violence against Palestinian civilians, and to increase efforts to improve the basic living conditions for the population of Gaza,” Izetbegovic told the local Fena news agency.