Israeli gunfire wounded at least 14 Palestinians during Friday protests along the Gaza border, the Hamas-controlled enclave’s Health Ministry said.
Thousands of people turned out for the protests but most kept their distance from the fortified frontier.
A Health Ministry spokesman said 14 people were injured by Israeli army fire along the border, including “a child shot in the chest east of the Al-Bureij refugee camp” in the central Gaza Strip.
An AFP correspondent said protesters held back from launching burning tires or balloons carrying flaming material towards Israel – tactics they have frequently used since the border protests erupted in March.
Demonstrators were directed “to keep back from the separation fence and to maintain peaceful protests… to give a chance to Egyptian efforts to calm things down,” an organizer told AFP.
It marked the second straight Friday of lighter protests since an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire on November 13 ended the worst violence between Israel and Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas since the 2014 war.
– With reporting from Agence France-Presse
The Gazans should stop these Hamas-staged protests by human shields, stop spending the billions of dollars in aid on terrorism, and start building a peaceful and productive society.
The Gazans should stop these Hamas-staged protests by human shields, stop spending the billions of dollars in aid on terrorism, and start building a peaceful and productive society.