GAZA CITY: A Palestinian teenager was killed on Friday by Israeli fire during clashes along the Gaza border, the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave said.

Yussef al-Daya, 14, was hit in the chest to the east of Gaza City, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

Around 30 other Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in rallies along the frontier, he added.

The Israeli army said around 8,000 Palestinians demonstrated at various points along the border, without commenting on the teenager’s death.

The protesters set tyres ablaze and threw grenades, incendiary devices and stones towards Israeli soldiers, an army spokesperson said.

Israeli forces “responded with anti-riot means and shot according to the operational procedures,” they said.

At least 251 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March 2018, the majority shot during weekly border protests and others hit by tank fire or air strikes.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period.

Israeli has fought three wars with Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas since 2008 and the enclave has been under a crippling blockade for more than a decade.

The protests in Gaza are mostly against the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory. Citing security concerns, Israel and Egypt imposed tight restrictions on movements of people and goods in and out of Gaza after the militant Hamas group wrested control of the territory in 2007.

Hamas has arranged weekly demonstrations since last March to protest the blockade and demand the return of Palestinian refugees to land in what is now Israel.

One Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper last July.

Israel says it defends its frontier against breaches. Critics accuse Israel of employing excessive force against unarmed Palestinians.

In Jerusalem, the eastern part of which Palestinians claim as their future capital, protesters chanting “Allahu Akbar” streamed into a sealed-off area of Al Aqsa Mosque during prayers on Friday. Israeli police said the crowds that gathered dispersed peacefully after prayers.

Tension at the shrine has escalated in recent days. Similar protests turned into scuffles with police earlier this week. Anticipating unrest, police arrested 60 Palestinians overnight suspected of “causing disturbances” and “inciting violence.” Israel blocked off a structure near the mosque, known as the “Gate of Mercy,” in 2003 because it was home to a heritage organisation allegedly connected with a militant Islamic group. Israeli police accused the Waqf, the Islamic authority that oversees the compound, of attempting to “change the status quo” at the

sensitive site by convening in the closed area last week.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2019