Funerals held for two Palestinian youths killed by Israeli forces in Gaza

On Saturday, residents of the town of Khan Yunis participated in the funeral procession for 13-year-old Yaser Amjad Abu Naja, who was shot in the head by Israeli forces alongside the eastern border of Gaza on Friday.

Elsewhere in the southern Gazan town of Rafah, people also held a funeral ceremony for 24-year-old Muhammad Fawzi Muhammad al-Hamaida, who succumbed to injuries he had sustained east of Rafah City earlier on Friday.

Israeli fire also injured 310 other Palestinians. Tear gas was also used against the Palestinians.

Protests along the Gaza fence since March 30 have led to clashes with Israeli forces, where at least 135 Palestinians, including 14 children, have been killed. The Palestinian protesters demand their right to return to their homeland. Over 15,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.

On May 14, Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians who had gathered near the Gaza fence in protest against the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem al-Quds. Over 60 Palestinians were shot dead and more than 2,700 were wounded by Israeli snipers who had been positioned along the fence.

Every year on May 15, Palestinians all over the world hold demonstrations to commemorate the day which marks the anniversary of the forcible Israeli eviction of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948.

The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) has said children in the Gaza Strip are the main victims of the Israeli atrocities, where some 1.8 million people are living under a crippling blockade.  

Gaza has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007, causing a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented unemployment and poverty.

Israel has also launched several wars on the Palestinian sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014 and ended in late August the same year. The Israeli military aggression killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and injured over 11,100 others.