Two Palestinians were killed and at least 100 others injured as Israeli forces opened fire at demonstrators in the Gaza Strip on Friday, medical sources said.
Ashraf al-Qidra, Gaza’s Ministry of Health spokesperson, said that Yahiya Abd al-Qader Farhat, 24, was killed after being shot in the head by Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza.
He was taken to the al-Awda hospital in Jabalia, where he was pronounced dead. Farhat was from the Gaza neighborhood of al-Shujaiyeh.
Mahmoud Hatim Hmeid, 22, was identified as the second victim. He was killed east of the al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood in northern Gaza.
At least 11 Palestinians were shot with live fire while dozens suffered tear gas inhalation and were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets during the demonstrations, al-Qidra added.
Clashes also broke out east of the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, with Israeli forces firing tear gas at demonstrators, who set fire to tires.
Demonstrations were reported near the Erez and Nahal Oz crossings in the northern Gaza Strip, as thousands of Palestinians marched following a call by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
Protests set off from different mosques following Friday prayers, calling for an escalation against Israel.
Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official, called upon all factions to take part in the “Intifada against Israel.”
The leader of Islamic Jihad, Khalid al-Batsh, said the movement would remain “ready to strike the enemy.”
An Israeli army spokesperson said that hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the border fence and breached the buffer zone, throwing rocks and burning tires.
“The threat of infiltration was posing a direct threat to communities nearby,” she added, with Israeli forces using riot dispersal means and firing at “main instigators.”
She said the army was aware of reported injuries to Palestinians.
Last weekend, 12 Palestinians were killed in Gaza by Israeli forces, with 10 shot dead during demonstrations at the border and two killed, a two-year-old girl and her pregnant mother, in an airstrike.
At least 35 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since Oct.1, while seven Israeli have been killed in attacks by Palestinians.
(Ma’an)
