UPDATE - Palestinian martyred near Gaza-Israel security fence

UPDATES WITH CHILD’S DEATH

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY (AA) - A Palestinian youth was martyred Monday by Israeli troops near the Gaza-Israel security fence, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a statement, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said that Sabry Ahmed Abu Khedr, 24, had been martyred by Israeli forces deployed near the fence.

Al-Qidra did not provide any additional details.

In related development later the same day, a Palestinian child succumbed to injuries sustained last week while participating in rallies near the security fence, according to the Health Ministry.

“Thirteen-year-old Zakaria Hussein Beshbesh died of his wounds after being shot in the abdomen [last week] by Israeli troops east of Gaza’s Al-Bureij refugee camp,” al-Qidra said in a separate statement.

Since Palestinians began staging mass rallies near the security fence on Mar. 30, scores of protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.

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.

They also demand an end to Israel’s draconian blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.