UPDATE WITH DEATH TOLLS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK
By Ali Semerci
GAZA (AA) – Israeli forces killed two Palestinians on Friday amid months-long mass demonstration against the occupation of Palestinian land, according to Palestine's Health Ministry.
Ashraf al-Qidra, a ministry spokesman, said during today’s demonstrations in Khan Yunis and Rafah, southern Gaza, Mohammad Fawzi al Hamaida, 24, and a 13-year-old Palestinian were martyred by live Israeli bullets.
Since the rallies began on March 30, more than 130 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred — and thousands more injured — by Israeli army gunfire.
Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.
They also demand an end to Israel’s decade-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
