Palestinian said to die of wounds sustained in Gaza border clash last month

A Palestinian shot by Israeli forces last month during protests on the Gaza border has died of his wounds, the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory said Wednesday.

“Mohammed Ghassan Abu Daqqa died… on Wednesday evening from his wounds, after he was shot by the Israeli occupation east of Khan Younis on May 14,” the ministry said.

It described him as a “young man” but did not give his precise age.

In two months of the mass March of Return protests along the Gaza border, more than 130 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli military fire. Dozens of the fatalities were members of terror groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have acknowledged.

Israel says its troops are defending the border and has accused Hamas of trying to carry out terror attacks under the cover of the protests. The border protests peaked on May 14, when some 40,000 Gazans protested along the fence and violent clashes took place between troops and Palestinians. The protest came on the same day that the US opened its embassy in Jerusalem. Some 60 Gazans died in the May 14 violence; Hamas acknowledged that 50 of them were its members.

Palestinian protesters have hurled grenades, improvised explosives and rocks at soldiers, burned tires and flown hundreds of incendiary kites and balloons into Israeli territory, sparking multiple fires.

The Israeli military says it has insisted its soldiers adhere to the rules of engagement to defend Israeli civilians and security infrastructure from attacks cloaked by the protests.

Meanwhile, Israel has been battling large fires caused by kites and balloons rigged with incendiary devices or burning rags, launched by Gazans as part of the protests. Brush fires sparked by the “arson balloons” in recent weeks have destroyed hundreds of dumans of forests, burned crops and killed wildlife and livestock.

Early Wednesday morning, Israeli planes targeted Hamas military positions in response to the arson attacks. Palestinian terror groups retaliated for the strikes, launching more than 45 rockets and mortar rounds towards Israeli territory. In response to the launches, the IDF carried out more raids against 25 Hamas military targets in the Strip.

The latest spike in tensions marks the worst military escalation between the sides since the 2014 conflict.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week threatened that Israel could step up its military action in Gaza if terrorist groups there continue to launch rockets and incendiary kites and balloons.