CARACAS, Sept 10: Israeli troops shot to death two Palestinian teens Friday during Gaza’s weekly protest known as the March of Return on the Gaza-Israel border, in which Palestinians call for the end of the brutal decade-long Israeli blockade as well as demanding the return of Palestinian refugees to their lands and homes in Israel, a right granted for them by the United Nations.
Israeli forces killed 16-year-old Ahmed Masabah Abu Tuyur while he was waving his hands at them, according to a video shared on social media. The video showed Abu Tuyur throwing a rock at the Israeli troops, then waving his hands at them for 10 seconds before he was shot with live ammunition.
Palestinian health officials said he died Saturday after failing to recover from the bullet wound he received Friday during n the protest. Officials said at least 210 others were wounded in the protest, 45 of them with live fire, including a medic.
7 Palestinians killed by Israel fire on Gaza border
Meanwhile, Bilal Mustafa Khafaja, 17, was shot and killed by Israeli live ammunition during the Friday protests.
This week’s protests were joined by at least 7,000 people, according to reports, and focused on condemning the recent decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to cut all aid to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Since Gazans began holding weekly border protests began on March 30, the Israeli army has killed 173 Palestinians and wounded thousands.
Gaza has been under Israeli blockade since 2007 which has thrown the region’s population of more than two million Palestinians into humanitarian crisis due to lack of access to medicine, food, clean water, free movement as well basic civil rights.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned over the past few years that Gaza has already become an unlivable due to the Israeli blockade that many have called collective punishment against the whole population of Gaza over Israel’s perceived war with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance movement Hamas.
