Gaza teen shot in August clashes said to die of injuries

A Palestinian teenager died late Saturday after being shot by Israeli forces last month during protests and clashes along the Gaza border, the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave said.

Saheeb Abu Kashef, 16, was shot on August 3 east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the ministry.

About 130 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in border clashes with Israeli security forces since March, which marked the start of a series of violent protests along the security fence known as the “March of Return.”

Over the weekend, the Gaza health ministry said three Palestinians were killed in Friday’s border clashes, though almost immediately conflicting accounts of the death of 12-year-old protester Shady Abel Aal emerged.

The IDF said its evidence shows that the boy was hit by a rock thrown by protesters, while Gaza rights groups reported he died after being struck “with a solid object,” the AP reported.

The Gaza health ministry, by contrast, claimed Abel Aal was killed by Israeli fire east of Jabalia, in the northern part of the Strip. A ministry spokesman said Saturday that he had died from head wounds, without elaborating.

Mohammed, a 12-year-old friend, told AFP that Abdel Aal was struck by a teargas canister while the two were throwing rocks at the border fence.

Hundreds attended Abdel Aal’s funeral in the Jabalia refugee camp on Saturday.

The ongoing clashes at the border, which Israel says are being orchestrated by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, have included regular rock and Molotov cocktail attacks on troops, as well as shootings and IED attacks aimed at IDF soldiers and attempts to breach the border fence.

Gaza protesters have also launched incendiary kites and balloons into Israel, sparking fires that have destroyed forests, burned crops, and killed livestock.

On Friday, 12,000 Palestinians participated in the weekly demonstrations along the border. The army said rioters burned tires and hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers, who responded according to open-fire regulations.

In several incidents, grenades and bombs were hurled at the troops. Shrapnel from one pipe bomb lightly injured an IDF officer who was treated at the scene. In response, the military said, an aircraft and a tank struck two Hamas posts.

Israel says its actions — and in particular the use of live ammunition — are necessary to defend the border and stop mass infiltrations from the territory. Israel has accused the Hamas terror group of encouraging the protests and using them as cover to attempt to carry out terror attacks, including firing at troops and attempting to breach the border fence.

AFP contributed to this report