Gazans bury 3 martyrs killed by Israel

By Hidayat al-Saidi

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Hundreds of Palestinians on Saturday paid farewell to three people martyred by Israeli army fire during anti-occupation protests near border of the Gaza Strip a day earlier.

Palestinians in eastern Gaza’s al-Shojaeya neighborhood took part in the funeral of 12-year-old Faris al-Sirsawi, who was killed by Israeli forces stationed near a security fence in eastern Gaza.

Mourners also laid to rest the bodies of Mahmoud Abu Samaan, 24, and Hussein al-Raqib, 28, in central and southern Gaza.

Friday’s deaths brought to 198 Palestinians martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire near Gaza border in anti-occupation protests since March.

Demonstrators 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 two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.