Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian and wounded at least 220 others at protests on the Gaza border on Friday, a Gaza hospital official said.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said 25-year-old Yahya Yagi was shot dead by Israeli army, while scores of others were injured by Israeli arm fires and tear gas canisters on the eastern Gaza border.
Hamas’ spokesman Abdullatif al-Qanu stressed that the group’s decision to join the “right to return” march showed the Hamas’ alignment with Palestinian people.
On Thursday, the administration of Rafah Border Crossing said a delegation — including leading group members of Hamas such as Saleh al-Arouri, Mousa Abu Marzouk, Izzat al-Rishq and Hussam Badran — have returned to Gaza.
At least 156 Palestinians have been killed since March 30, when Palestinians in the Gaza Strip began holding almost daily protests near the buffer zone.
Protesters demand the “right of 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 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
