Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip during the latest of weekly protests along the border with Israel on Friday, Palestinian health officials said.

Around 8,000 Palestinians gathered near the border fence, Israel’s military said. Most kept their distance, while some burned tires and tried to throw an explosive device into Israel, though it did not land across the border, the military said.

“Troops responded with riot dispersal means and fired in accordance with standard operating procedures,” an Israeli military spokeswoman.

Gaza’s health ministry said 16-year-old Mohammad Jahjouh was fatally shot in the neck, while 25 others, including a local journalist, were wounded by Israeli gunfire.

Health officials in Gaza, which is run by the Islamist Hamas movement, say more than 220 Palestinians have been killed since they began weekly border protests on March 30 to demand the easing of Israel’s blockade on the territory and the right to return to land lost in the 1948 war of Israel’s founding.

Israel has ruled out any such right, concerned that the country would lose its Jewish majority.

Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005 but maintains tight control of its land, air and sea borders. The wider Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been stalled for several years.

*The story was edited by Ahram OnLine.

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