Israeli forces kill Palestinian at Gaza border protest

Troops shoot man in head with live ammunition and injure at least six others during clashes along northern border.

Gaza Border Clashes
Palestinian protesters hurl stones towards Israeli troops during clashes near Gaza border [File: Reuters]

Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured at least six others during a protest along the besieged Gaza Strip’s northern border with Israel.

Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters broke out on Friday east of the Jabliya refugee camp in the north of the territory, where Aeid Khamis Jumaa, 35, was shot in the head with live ammunition, according to the Gaza-based Ministry of Health.

The ministry, run by Gaza’s ruling Hamas, said six other Palestinians were wounded during the clashes in Jabaliya.

Jumaa was the second Palestinian to be killed in a week during clashes with Israeli troops on Gaza’s border.

For weeks, Palestinians have rallied at the border fence after activists affiliated with Hamas called for protests there.

In separate clashes on Friday, Israeli forces shot live ammunition at protesters on the border east of Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza injuring at least two Palestinians, witnesses told the Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP news agency that hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators had burned tyres and thrown stones the length of the security fence between Israel and Gaza.

“Our forces had to arrest suspects to prevent damage to the security fence,” she said, but was unable to confirm the casualties from gunfire.

Israel and Egypt, citing security concerns, enforced a blockade on Gaza a decade ago when Hamas took over the territory from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies