Israel forces shoot dead one, injure 120 Palestinian protesters

A Palestinian has been shot dead and 120 have been wounded after Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of peaceful demonstrators during a march in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

The Gaza Health Ministry said that Ahmed Yaghi, 25, was killed by a sniper near the fence that separates the occupied territories from the east of Gaza City on Friday.

Health Ministry sources noted that 50 of the wounded Palestinian protesters were taken to nearby hospitals, while the rest were treated at the scene of the protests. Most of the casualties were due to the Israeli troops' use of live fire.

The Israeli military said some 8,000 people took part in the protests at five sites along the fence.

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Tensions have been running high near the fence since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests dubbed “The Great March of Return.” Palestinian protesters demand the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.

The clashes in Gaza reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day, or the Day of Catastrophe, which coincided this year with Washington's relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.

Israeli fire has taken the lives of at least 157 Palestinians since March 30.

Nearly 15,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries, of whom at least 360 are reportedly in critical condition.

On June 13, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by Turkey and Algeria, condemning Israel for Palestinian civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza has been under Israeli siege since June 2007, causing a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented unemployment and poverty.

Israel has also launched several wars on the Palestinian sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014 and ended in late August the same year. The Israeli military aggression killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and injured over 11,100 others.

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