Gaza: A 15-year-old Palestinian youth died on Saturday after being shot the previous day by Israeli occupation troops during protests along the Gaza border, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Occupation forces have killed 43 Palestinians since Gaza residents began staging protests along the border fence on March 30. The demonstrators are pressing for a right of return for refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel.
The teenager killed was identified as Azzam Aweida. Hundreds of people gathered at his home in the southern town of Khan Younis to attend the funeral.
Mourners carried his body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, to a nearby mosque for prayers before burial. “My son is a martyr and I am very proud of him,” said his father, Hilal Aweida.
The Palestinians say the occupation regime is using excessive force against the protesters, 2,000 of whom have been wounded by gunfire.
The regime’s use of live fire has drawn international criticism.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussain on Friday called the loss of life deplorable and said a “staggering number” of injuries had been caused by live ammunition.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that three Palestinians were killed on Friday and 200 were wounded by gunfire.
Gaza is run by Hamas, which Israel and the West designate a terrorist organisation. The regime maintains tight control over Gaza’s land and sea borders. Egypt also restricts movement in and out of Gaza.
More than two million people are packed into the narrow coastal enclave, where poverty and unemployment rates are high.
The protests come at a time of growing frustration for Palestinians as prospects for an independent state look poor.
US-led peace talks between the Israeli regime and the Palestinians broke down in 2014. Efforts by the Trump administration to revive negotiations have shown no sign of progress.
Dubbed the “Great March of Return”, the protest action is to continue until May 15 when, Hamas leader Esmail Haniyeh says, the Gaza demonstrations will be replicated elsewhere along Israel’s frontiers.
May 15 is the date the Palestinians mark as the nakba, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes during violence in the 1948-49 war between the newly-created Zionist state and its Arab neighbours.
The regime in Tel Aviv refuses any right of return, fearing it would lose its Jewish majority.
Hamas said late Friday that regime aircraft hit two boats at Gaza’s port. Witnesses said the explosions severely damaged the boats.
The boats were being prepared to sail beyond the six-nautical-mile limit set by Israel in protest of the maritime restrictions on Gaza, a Hamas activist familiar with the issue said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the venture had not yet been announced.
The boats were to sail May 15 as part of the mass protests.
Hamas’ Interior Ministry announced that Egypt had agreed to open the Rafah border crossing for three days, beginning on Saturday. The temporary opening is the second this month.
