GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Latest on Palestinian protests in Gaza that turned deadly when Israeli troops fired into the crowd. (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
The Gaza Health Ministry says one Palestinian was killed and 49 were wounded by Israeli army fire in protests on the Gaza-Israel border.
Friday’s death brings to 41 the number of protesters killed since weekly border protests began in late March. More than 1,700 have been wounded by army fire during that period.
The ministry identified the protester killed Friday as a 40-year-old man who was shot in the chest east of the southern town of Khan Younis. It says seven of the 49 protesters hit by Israeli fire Friday were in serious condition and that dozens of others were overcome by tear gas inhalation.
The protest came just three days ahead of what the leader of Gaza’s ruling Hamas group has said will be a march by tens of thousands who could burst through the border fence into Israel.
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1:15 p.m.
Hundreds of Gaza residents are gathering near the border with Israel for a seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old blockade of their territory.
Friday’s protest comes just three days ahead of what the Hamas leader of Gaza says will be a march by tens of thousands who could burst through the border fence into Israel. Yehiyeh Sinwar has said Monday’s crowd will be unarmed and peaceful, but also compared it to a “starving tiger.”
The Hamas-led demonstrations, fueled by despair in Gaza, are part of a campaign to break the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007.
Israel says it will prevent any border breach. Forty protesters were killed and more than 1,700 wounded by Israeli troops since late March.