Israeli gunfire injures 3 Palestinians on Gaza border

By Nour Abu Eisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Three Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire on Saturday near border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a statement, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said Israeli forces opened fire toward Gaza’s eastern border, injuring three people.

The injuries came as scores of Palestinians gathered near the border as part of Palestinian protests demanding the right of return to refugees.

On Friday, at least 15 Gazans were martyred and hundreds injured when Israeli forces opened fire on protesters marking “Land Day”, an annual Palestinian commemoration of the deaths of six Arab citizens of Israel killed by Israeli forces in 1976 during demonstrations over government land confiscations in northern Israel.

The rallies were the start of a six-week protest that culminates on May 15, the day the Palestinians call as “Nakba”, or “Catastrophe”, when Israel was created.

The demonstrators are demanding that Palestinian refugees be allowed the right of return to towns and villages which their families fled from, or were driven out of, when the state of Israel was created in 1948.