Young Palestinian man killed in clashes with Israeli forces

Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, Rami Qahman, 28, succumbed to injuries he sustained during protests east of Rafah city earlier on Friday.

According to the report, six of the wounded were children while nine others were women.

Tensions have been running high near the fence between the besieged Gaza Strip and Israeli-occupied territories since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests dubbed “The Great March of Return.” Palestinian protesters demand the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.

At least 219 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since late March. Nearly 22,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.

The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Also on Friday, a funeral was held for a young Palestinian man who was killed at the hands of the Israelis.

Mohammad A’ala Abou Sharbin, 20, was shot dead by Israeli troops during anti-occupation rallies along the fence on Thursday.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in the standards of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.

The Israeli regime denies about 1.8 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs with proper wages as well as adequate healthcare and education.

In early July 2014, Israel waged a war on the Gaza Strip.

The 50-day military aggression, which ended on August 26, 2014, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children. Over 11,100 others, including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people, were also wounded in the war.

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