Israeli forces kill two Palestinian teens near Gaza-Israel buffer zone

Hassan Shalabi, 14, and Hamza Ashtiwi, 18, were killed by the Israeli army's gunfire during the weekly protests near Gaza-Israel buffer zone, Gaza's health ministry said in a statement.

A relative of Palestinian teen Hassan Shalabi reacts as his body is brought into a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2019.
Reuters

A relative of Palestinian teen Hassan Shalabi reacts as his body is brought into a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2019.

Two Palestinian teenagers were killed on Friday by Israeli soldiers near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said that Hassan Shalabi, 14, and Hamza Ashtiwi, 18, had been “martyred by Israeli forces.”

According to the ministry, at least 17 other Palestinians were injured by live ammunition.

TRT World spoke to Hind Khoudary who is following the updates from Gaza Strip.

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Since Palestinians began holding almost-daily rallies along the buffer zone in March of last year, more than 250 have been killed – and thousands more injured – by Israeli troops deployed in the vicinity.

Demonstrators demand the right of Palestinian refugees to 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 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.

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