He was dismissed and his programme taken off-air.

A prominent host on Israel’s Army Radio said he was “ashamed” to be an Israeli citizen after the killing of 18 Palestinians by Israeli snipers near the border with the besieged Gaza Strip.

“Today, I’m ashamed to be Israeli,” Kobi Meidan posted on his Facebook page.

Meidan’s post angered officials at the Israeli Army, while the Army Radio commander Shimon Elkabetz suspended Meidan and his programme from broadcasting.

World outcry

At least 18 Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian rallies, demanding the return of refugees, near the Gaza border on Friday.

More than 1,500 Palestinians have also been injured by Israeli snipers during the protests, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The violent Israeli response to the Palestinian protests has triggered world outcry with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling for an independent and transparent investigation into the killings along the Gaza border.

Friday’s rallies were the start of a six-week protest that culminates on May 15, the day the Palestinians call as the “Nakba“, or “catastrophe” – the day Israel was created.

The demonstrators are demanding that Palestinian refugees be allowed the right of return to towns and villages from which their families fled, or were driven out, when the state of Israel was created in 1948.