Gazan dies of wounds in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM

A Palestinian youth has succumbed to wounds he sustained from Israeli fire during anti-occupation protests in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry on Tuesday.

Sari Al-Shawbki was shot and critically injured in the neck during protests near Gaza border two months ago, the ministry said in a statement.

“He passed away at St. Joseph Hospital in East Jerusalem where he was taken for medical treatment," the ministry added.

Since the rallies began in March, more than 130 Palestinians have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.

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 territory’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.