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2nd Palestinian killed by Israel in Gaza's march today

March 30, 2019 at 6:43 pm

Palestinians seen at the anniversary march of the “Great March of Return” and “Palestinian Land Day” protests at Israel-Gaza border on March 30, 2019 [Mohammad Asad / Middle East Monitor]

A 17-year-old Palestinian boy, identified as Adham Amara, was killed after being shot with a teargas canister in his face while taking part in the Great Return March protest east of Gaza City.

This is the second Palestinian to have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces since this morning.

According to the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza, twenty-year-old Mohammad Saad, was killed after being hit with a shrapnel when an Israeli artillery unit shelled a Palestinian security checkpoint.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that its staff have dealt with 59 wounded since the morning, including 16 children and four women.

Amara’s death brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israel during the Great March of Return to 267.

In Pictures: Land Day in Gaza

In the run-up to Saturday’s rallies, the Israeli army has deployed numerous tanks and armored vehicles along the buffer zone with the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly instructed the army to prepare for the possibility of a “broad” campaign in Gaza.

Nearly 270 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed by Israeli army gunfire since Palestinians began holding regular demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone in March of last year.

Demonstrators demand the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes 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 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

Read: Gazans stage general strike amid Land Day protests