Palestinian journalist shot by Israeli troops dies

GAZA: A Palestinian journalist shot by Israeli forces during clashes along the Gaza border has died, the health ministry in the Strip said Saturday.

Yasser Murtaja, a photographer with the Gaza-based Ain Media agency, was hit during clashes Friday, the ministry said.

An AFP photograph taken after he was wounded showed Murtaja wearing a press vest as he received treatment.

The Israeli army declined to comment, saying it was reviewing the incident.

The Gaza health ministry also announced the death of another man, 20-year-old Hamza Abdel Aal, saying he was shot east of Al-Bureij in central Gaza.

The deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed during Friday’s clashes to nine after thousands gathered along the border for the second week in a row.

Some Palestinians burned mounds of tyres and threw stones at Israeli soldiers over the border fence, who responded with tear gas and live fire.

At least 491 Palestinians were injured by shooting, the health ministry said.

According to earlier reports, Israeli troops shot dead seven Palestinian protesters and wounded at least 200 along the Israel-Gaza border on Friday, Gaza medical officials said, raising the death toll to 27 in the week-long disturbances.

They said the demonstrators, including two teenage boys aged 16 and 17, were killed at protest sites along the frontier during a round of daily demonstrations that has been dubbed “The Great March of Return”.

The day saw bigger Palestinian crowds than in recent days but not as large as when the demonstration began last Friday, calmed down as night descended.

Gazans, including Palestinian refugees and their descendants seeking to regain ancestral homes in what is now Israel, have set up tent encampments a few hundred metres (yards) inside the 65-km (40-mile) fence that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Large groups of youths have ventured much closer to the no-go zone along the barrier, risking live fire from Israeli troops to roll burning tyres and throw stones.