Palestinian dies of wounds sustained in border protests

A Palestinian man died on Thursday from gunshot wounds he sustained during last week's protests along the Gaza-Israeli border fence, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

Anas Abu Asser, 19, who was shot during last Friday's "Great March of Return" in Gaza city, had been "seriously injured", Efe news reported citing the Ministry's spokesman.

Asser's death raised the death toll of Palestinians to 48 killed by Israeli fire since weekly border protests started on March 30, according to statistics released by the Ministry.

Three Palestinians were killed and 880 others wounded last Friday during clashes between dozens of Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers along the borders.

The protesters were calling for the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, who according to the UN make up around two-thirds of Gaza's population, to return to their homeland inside what is now Israel.

The six-week rally is expected to peak on May 15 when Palestinians commemorate Nakba Day (Day of the Catastrophe), which this year marks 70 years since Israel's creation and subsequent displacement of some 700,000 Palestinian refugees.

Israel rejects the protests and vows to respond to any border infiltration attempts threatening its sovereignty as well as its residents.

--IANS

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