Israeli forces fired on Palestinian protesters on Saturday, injuring 24 people – including a 13-year-old boy who was shot in the head – health officials said. An Israeli policeman was seriously injured when he was shot by Palestinians during clashes on the Gaza border with Israel.
Violence erupted after hundreds of Palestinians gathered on Saturday for a protest organized by Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, to draw attention to an oppressive Israeli blockade on the territory. The protest turned violent after dozens of protesters approached the fortified border fence and threw stones and explosives at Israeli soldiers behind a black smoke screen from the burning tires.
Israeli military forces reported that hundreds of protesters approached an area of the fence in northern Gaza and tried to raise it to the tempo they were throwing explosives at soldiers. Soldiers responded with tear gas and bullets.
He added that a member of the border paramilitary police was hospitalized in serious condition after being shot. An amateur video of the Palestinian gang showed a protester climbing the concrete barrier and firing a gun through a hole used by an Israeli sniper.
In Gaza, the Hamas-operated Ministry of Health indicated that 24 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire. Two of them, including the minor under the age of 13, were in serious condition.
The violent confrontations were a reminder of the weekly protests organized at the border by Hamas in 2018 and 2019 to draw attention to Israel’s blockade on the tiny coastal territory.
Israel and Hamas have been staunch enemies in four wars and countless skirmishes since the Islamic extremist group forcibly seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, a year after winning a Palestinian election. The most recent war, in May, ended with an indefinite ceasefire after 11 days of fighting.
Khalil al-Haia, a senior Hamas official, told protesters that the confrontation with Israel remained “open.”
Tensions have risen in recent weeks, with Hamas calling on Israel to end the blockade, which severely restricts the movement of people and goods to and from the territory.
Israel imposed the blockade with the help of Egypt in 2007, arguing that it needed it to prevent Hamas from obtaining weapons.
In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli army claimed that soldiers responded with gunfire after hundreds of Palestinians protested at the border.