Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in Gaza Strip

Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in Gaza Strip
At least five Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military forces in the besieged Gaza Strip since Monday.
2 min read
20 September, 2018
Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007. [Getty]

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager near the border in southern Gaza late on Wednesday.

Gaza's health ministry said Mumim Abu Ayeda, 15, was killed along the heavily-guarded border fence east of Rafah.

It said he was part of night time demonstrations which have taken place over months of protests, dubbed the Great March of Return.

Palestinians have staged regular protests along the separation fence since 30 March, demanding the right to return to homes their families fled or were expelled from during the creation of Israel in 1948. 

They are also calling for an end to the decade-long Israel-Egypt blockade that the UN says will make Gaza "unlivable" by 2020. 

At least five Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military forces in Gaza since Monday.

Within the same period, another Palestinian died after being assaulted during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank, while another man was shot dead in East Jerusalem after an alleged stabbing attack.

"The shocking fact that five Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli authorities and one died in their custody in just 24 hours is a chilling demonstration of the utter disregard for right to life," Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said on Wednesday.

"Several of these incidents appear to involve deliberate and wilful killing of unarmed civilians and may amount to war crimes," he added.

Since 30 March, more than 180 Palestinians, including at least 29 children, have been killed and over 17,000 others injured in the Israeli military response to the "Great March of Return" protests.

Amnesty said it has not documented any instances where demonstrators posed an imminent threat to life to Israeli forces.

Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, which rights groups say amounts to collective punishment of the impoverished strip's two million residents.

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