By Nour Abu Aisha
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - For the seventh Friday in a row, thousands of Palestinians converged on the Gaza Strip’s 45-kilometer eastern border with Israel as part of ongoing rallies against the decades-long occupation.
In a statement, Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry, said that, as of midday, at least 15 demonstrators had been hurt by Israeli troops deployed along the other side of the border fence.
“A journalist suffered minor injuries after being struck in the foot by a gas bomb,” he said.
Since the border rallies began on Mar. 30, at least 47 Palestinians have been killed -- and hundreds more injured -- by cross-border Israeli army gunfire, according to Health Ministry figures.
Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.
The rallies will culminate on May 15 (next Tuesday), which will mark the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment -- an event Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba" or "The Catastrophe".