Israel attacks protesters along security fence with Gaza

By Ramzy Mahmoud

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian protesters were injured as the Israeli army fired on protesters near the security fence in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medical sources and witnesses said.

Paramedics transported demonstrators who were injured by live bullets and suffocated by tear gas canisters during a protest march called by the National and Islamic Forces, a coalition of Palestinian political groups.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza, however, did not release an official report on the number of injured.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that nearly a thousand Palestinians participated in the protest, adding that Israeli forces were using tear gas and live fire to disperse the crowd.

The protest was to reject the Israeli siege, and call for the reconstruction of Gaza after the recent 11-day Israeli aggression in May, which Palestinian armed factions name "The Battle of the Sword of Jerusalem".

*Writing by Bassel Barakat in Ankara