A Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli army fire during a weekly protest in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the besieged enclave.
The ministry said on Saturday that Ahmed al-Qarra, 23, died “as a result of wounds sustained (from) the Israeli occupation forces’ fire” the previous day.
He had been shot in the stomach during demonstrations along Israel‘s fence east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The mother of Palestinian martyr Ahmed Al-qarra prepares a mattress of flower buds for her son who was murdered yesterday by a Zionist sniper.
May Allah mercy the soul of the martyr and grant his mother too much patience and reunite her with him in Paradise.#GreatReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/le5kiFwKg9— Samir Nasser | Gaza✌ (@samirnasser133) July 27, 2019
Al-Qarra, who succumbed to his wounds in hospital shortly before midnight on Friday, was the first fatality since June related to the weekly demonstrations that have been taking place for the past 16 months.
Another 38 Palestinians were hit and wounded with live ammunition, the health ministry said in a separate statement.
Israeli forces also reportedly targeted an ambulance.
Thousands of people marched through the streets east of Khan Younis in Gaza, Saturday, July 27, for the funeral of Ahmed al-Qarra, 23, a Palestinian killed by Israeli fire during a border protest on Friday. (AP) pic.twitter.com/ayVdfNyQzE
— The Voice of America (@VOANews) July 27, 2019
Demonstrators in Gaza began holding the weekly Great March of Return protests in March 2018, demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were ethnically cleansed in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.
They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has shattered the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its two million inhabitants of many basic amenities.
(Al Jazeera, PC, Social Media)
