GAZA: Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers broke out on Friday along Gaza’s eastern border with Israel during the seventh Friday anti-Israel protests, medical sources said.
The protests are part of what the Palestinians call the “Great March of Return” rally which has been organized every Friday at five different locations along Gaza’s eastern border with Israel since March 30.
Eyewitnesses said young Palestinians burned dozens of tires and threw stones at Israeli border soldiers, who responded by firing live gunshots, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters.
Meanwhile, kites carrying fire bombs were seen land in Israel’s agricultural fields, causing big flames.
Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Coordination Committee for the March of Return called for a larger participation in the protests among Palestinians.
Ashraf al-Qedra, health ministry spokesman in Gaza, said in an e-mailed press statement that the Israeli army has shot and killed 47 Palestinians since March 30, with six bodies still unreturned.