An unarmed Palestinian man has been killed by the Israeli forces during a peaceful weekly protest in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the besieged enclave.
The ministry on Saturday said that the Ahmed al-Qarra, aged 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.
Around 38 Palestinians were hit and wounded as a result of Israeli forces terrorism in the Gaza with live ammunition. The Israeli forces also reportedly targeted an ambulance.
The people of Gaza began to hold 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.
Israeli forces often fire on the demonstrators, saying they are seeking to prevent the border being infiltrated.
At least 296 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli fire since then, the majority during the demonstrations.
