Palestinian martyred by Israeli regime airstrike near Gaza border

A Palestinian man has been martyred as he came under attack by an Israeli regime aircraft in the Gaza Strip, less than a week after Tel Aviv’s forces launched a bloody crackdown on an anti-occupation protest in the Palestinian enclave.

According reports, the Israeli regime army claimed the man had arms and was getting close to the fence separating Gaza from the occupied territories when its aircraft fired at him early Thursday morning.

The army would not immediately comment on what type of weapon the man was carrying.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the incident, saying the Palestinian died in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after being targeted by an Israeli strike near the border, but did not identify the victim.

The incident comes as fresh demonstrations are expected along the Gaza border this Friday.

On March 30, Gazans marched to the border fence at the start of a six-week protest, dubbed “The Great March of Return.”

The mass protest, however, turned violent when Israeli military forces used lethal force to disperse the crowd.

Israel had previously deployed military vehicles and special forces, including 100 snipers, to Gaza’s border. The regime’s forces had also been authorized to shoot at the demonstrators.

Footage that circulated online following the protests showed that those who were shot posed no threat to Israeli troops.

The death toll from Zionist entity’s crackdown rose to 19 earlier today, when a Palestinian man, identified as Shadi Hamdan, died of the wounds he had sustained Friday when he was shot by Israeli forces in the east of the city of Rafah, located 30 km south of Gaza City.

Besides the 19 martyred, some 1,500 Gazans were injured.

Meanwhile, the Gaza town of Khan Younis was the scene of an anti-Zionist protest this morning.

A number of Palestinians suffered respiratory problems after Israeli forces used tear gas to disperse the protesters.

SS