Palestinian martyr laid to rest in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Palestine

A Palestinian youth who was martyred by Israeli army fire was laid to rest in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Saadi Muammar, 26, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers during an anti-occupation rally in the southern city of Rafah on Friday.

Two Palestinians had been killed and 60 others injured by Israeli army fire during Friday’s protest.

Since March, more than 170 people have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire during protests against the decades-long Israeli occupation and an 11-year blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of basic commodities.

Protesters, as well, 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.

Reporting by Hani al-; Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg