June 30 (UPI) — Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, during protests at the Gaza border Friday, the Gaza health ministry said.
Palestinian officials said a sniper shot 14-year-old Yasir Amjad Musa Abu Naja in the head. A 24-year-old man, Mohammed al-Hamayda, was killed east of al-Bureij in central Gaza.
The two were involved in the so-called Great March of Return protest, calling for the return of refugees displaced in 1948 from Israel. About 2,000 Palestinians gathered for the protests near the border fence.
The Great March of Return was the 14th straight Friday of protests at the border.
The protests “are intended to register our rejection of the [Israeli] occupation and its criminal policies, along with U.S. attempts to impose solutions that undermine the rights of our people,” said a statement from Gaza’s National Authority for Breaking the Siege.
The Gaza health ministry said more than 130 Palestinians have died from Israeli gunfire.
Israel, meanwhile, has slammed the Palestinians’ use of incendiary balloons and kites along the border, which officials said burned thousands of acres of farmland, forests and nature preserves. They estimated about $1.4 million in damages.
