Palestinian teenage protester dies after being hit by tear gas canister

A Palestinian teenager has died in the Gaza Strip four days after being hit by a tear gas canister during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers stationed on the border between the eastern Gaza Strip and the occupied territories.

Spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, said in a statement that Hassan Nabil Ahmed Nofal, 17, died late on Tuesday at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City from the wounds he suffered Friday when he hit in the head by the cartridge.

Nofal was hit when the canister was fired several meters from him during a “Great March of Return” protest east of Bureij refugee camp.

Fourteen-year-old Hassan Iyad Shalabi was fatally shot in the chest during an anti-occupation demonstration east of the city of Khan Yunis, located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Gaza City.

Hamza Mohammed Roshdi Ashtiwi, 17, died east of the Gaza Strip after he was hit in the neck with a live bullet.

Another 17 demonstrators suffered gunshot wounds, while dozens of Palestinians suffered excessive tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces sought to suppress the protest rallies.

Palestinians have held weekly protests on the Gaza border, over the siege on the enclave and the right for refugees to return to their homes they were forcibly expelled from during the 1948 creation of Israel.

More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30. Over 26,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.

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

On June 13, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by Turkey and Algeria, condemning the Israeli regime for the death of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The resolution, which had been put forward on behalf of Arab and Muslim countries, garnered a strong majority of 120 votes in the 193-member assembly, with eight votes against and 45 abstentions.

The resolution called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to make proposals within 60 days “on ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection, and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation,” including “recommendations regarding an international protection mechanism.”

It also called for “immediate steps towards ending the closure and the restrictions imposed by Israel on movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip.”

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