Al Jazeera News :
A four-year-old Palestinian boy has died after being injured by Israeli gunfire at a routine protest near the fence with Israel, Gaza’s health authorities said.
The Ministry of Health spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, said that Ahmed Abu Abed died late on Tuesday.
“Ahmed Abu Abed, aged four years and eight months, died as a result of the wounds he received last Friday east of Khan Younis,” al-Qudra said in a statement on Tuesday.
In the hospital where the boy died, 38-year-old Bassem told AFP news agency he was the child’s uncle.
He said Abu Abed was injured by shrapnel when his father was shot during regular Friday protests, dubbed the Great March of Return.
The boy’s funeral will take place on Wednesday.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday it was reviewing the incident while accusing Hamas – the group governing the Gaza Strip – of using residents as cover for attacks.
A fragile calm has taken over the besieged enclave since an Egyptian-brokered deal between Hamas and Israel was announced last month. The truce was designed to restore calm and end two days of Israeli aerial attacks on Gaza which began after Palestinian factions fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for an undercover Israeli operation that killed seven in Gaza.
At least 14 Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in the two days of violence.
More than 195 Palestinians killed
The killing of four-year-old Abu Abed follows months of demonstrations by Gazans along the fence with Israel, demanding their right to their ancestral lands from which they were expelled 70 years ago. The Great March of Return rallies culminated on May 15 to mark what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or Catastrophe – a reference to the forced removal of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and villages to clear the way for Israel’s establishment in 1948.
A four-year-old Palestinian boy has died after being injured by Israeli gunfire at a routine protest near the fence with Israel, Gaza’s health authorities said.
The Ministry of Health spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, said that Ahmed Abu Abed died late on Tuesday.
“Ahmed Abu Abed, aged four years and eight months, died as a result of the wounds he received last Friday east of Khan Younis,” al-Qudra said in a statement on Tuesday.
In the hospital where the boy died, 38-year-old Bassem told AFP news agency he was the child’s uncle.
He said Abu Abed was injured by shrapnel when his father was shot during regular Friday protests, dubbed the Great March of Return.
The boy’s funeral will take place on Wednesday.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday it was reviewing the incident while accusing Hamas – the group governing the Gaza Strip – of using residents as cover for attacks.
A fragile calm has taken over the besieged enclave since an Egyptian-brokered deal between Hamas and Israel was announced last month. The truce was designed to restore calm and end two days of Israeli aerial attacks on Gaza which began after Palestinian factions fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for an undercover Israeli operation that killed seven in Gaza.
At least 14 Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in the two days of violence.
More than 195 Palestinians killed
The killing of four-year-old Abu Abed follows months of demonstrations by Gazans along the fence with Israel, demanding their right to their ancestral lands from which they were expelled 70 years ago. The Great March of Return rallies culminated on May 15 to mark what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or Catastrophe – a reference to the forced removal of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and villages to clear the way for Israel’s establishment in 1948.
