Palestinian dies of wounds from Israeli fire

A Palestinian wounded during clashes with Israeli troops along the Gaza-Israel border died on Saturday, the health ministry in the blockaded coastal enclave said.

Badreddin Abu Musa, 25, was “hit by a bullet to the head (in Friday’s clashes) and died this morning,” ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra said in a statement.

Abu Mussa was taking part alongside hundreds of Palestinians in demonstrations near the border with Israel, he said.

At least 75 Palestinians were wounded, including 42 other Palestinians hit by live fire, he said in a statement.

There was no immediate word from the Israeli army.

The Israeli military said a soldier was lightly injured and an army vehicle was damaged as the demonstrators threw grenades at the fence.

Mass protests began along the Gaza-Israel border in March last year demanding the easing of Israel’s more than decade-old blockade of the territory and the right for Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel.

At least 306 Palestinians have been killed since then by Israeli fire, the majority of them during demonstrations.

Gaza is ruled by Hamas which has fought three wars against Israel since 2008.

Hamas said on Wednesday two overnight suicide bombings killed three Palestinian police officers in the strip, placing the Palestinian enclave in a state of alert.

Interior ministry spokesman Iyad Al Bozm said in an evening statement that they had identified the two bombers who blew themselves up at two police checkpoints in Gaza City.

He did not name them but said security forces “continue to investigate who is behind them.”

Witnesses said that both bombings were carried out by assailants on motorbikes.

A source familiar with the investigation said a Salafist movement in Gaza that sympathises with the Daesh militant group was suspected.

The interior ministry said two of the police officers were 32 and the third was 45.

Hamas’s military wing hailed them as members.

New police checkpoints were set up in Gaza City as authorities investigated the attacks.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya sought to calm fears of unrest in the enclave of two million people.

Agencies