Anti-blockade demos continue on Gaza-Israel buffer zone

GAZA CITY, Palestine

For the 50th week in a row, Palestinians on Friday converged along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to take part in ongoing rallies against Israel’s occupation and 12-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 26 Palestinians -- including four medics -- were injured on Friday by Israeli army gunfire.

In a statement, the ministry accused Israeli forces of “deliberately targeting medical personnel”.

Since the weekly demonstrations began almost one year ago, more than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops deployed along the buffer zone.

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.