More than 200 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have died since March, with deadly clashes again on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip ruled by the radical Islamic Hamas organization spoke of six Palestinians killed. Another 60 Palestinians suffered injuries, including ten minors, according to a ministry spokesman.
According to them, they were killed as the soldiers shot at thousands of protesters approaching the border with Israel.
Israel's army said it shot "attackers." Their number did not name them. The Palestinians had climbed over a security fence on the border of the Gaza Strip, had detonated an explosive device and set fire to a part of the fortification. They were shot dead when they approached an Israeli border post. According to information from the army, some 14,000 Palestinians gathered at different sections of the border on Friday.
Hamas again aggravated protest
Since the end of March, there have been regular violent protests on the border between the Palestinian enclave and Israel, to which the Israeli military reacts with fire.
The demonstrators are calling for the lifting of the Gaza Strip blockade imposed by Israel more than a decade ago and the return of Palestinians to their land when they left Israel in 1948 for eviction or flight.
Hamas had recently tightened these protests again after attempts at ceasefire with Israel failed under Egyptian mediation.
Israel justifies the closure of the densely populated Palestinian territory on land, water and in the air with the need to keep Hamas at bay. The country accuses Hamas of staging the protests and using them as a pretext for attacks.