17 Palestinians injured near Gaza-Israel buffer zone

By Hedaya al-Saedi

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 17 Palestinian protesters were injured on Friday by Israeli army gunfire near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said that the 17 Palestinians had been wounded by live ammunition.

Since Palestinians began holding regular rallies along the buffer zone on March 30, more than 200 protesters have been killed and thousands more injured.

Demonstrators demand the right to return to their homes and villages 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.