Palestinian teen shot dead by Israel in southern Gaza Strip

Ramallah, November 29 (RHC)-- A Palestinian teenager has been killed and five others wounded by Israeli fire in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday.  According to Gaza's ministry of health, 16-year-old Fahd al-Astal died after he was shot in the stomach by the Israeli army east of Khan Younis.

Weekly border protests along the Israeli frontier were officially cancelled this Friday.  But local residents said a small number of mostly young Palestinians still approached the fence, an area in which Israel's military enforces a "no go" zone.

At least 348 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since weekly protests began in March 2018, more than half during the demonstrations.  Others were killed by air attacks or tank fire.

The protesters are calling for Israel to ease its blockade of the coastal area and for Palestinians to be allowed to return to their ancestral homes now inside Israel.

About 70 percent of Gaza's two million Palestinians are registered refugees who were originally expelled from their homes by then Zionist armed groups before the founding of Israel in 1948.