Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – A Palestinian teenager has died of his wounds a day after being shot by Israeli forces in clashes along the Gaza border, the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry said Saturday.
Azzam Oweida, 15, was hit in the head during protests in southern Gaza on Friday, the ministry said.
His death brought to four the number of people killed or fatally wounded during a fifth consecutive Friday of protests in which thousands of Gazans have gathered near the heavily-guarded border.
Most protesters were peaceful but some threw stones and burned tyres.
Forty-five Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of what organisers have dubbed the Great March of Return on March 30, with more than 1,500 wounded.
No Israelis have been reported hurt.
The Israeli army said around 10,000 people had taken part in “riots” along the border Friday, saying troops responded with “riot dispersal means”.
The army has accused Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza and has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, of seeking to use the protests as cover to carry out attacks.
The protesters are calling for Palestinians to be allowed back to their historic homelands seized by Israel in 1948.
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