Gaza City: Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in renewed clashes along the Gaza border Friday, the health ministry in the enclave said.
The clashes took place a week before the first anniversary of the weekly protests, when organisers have pledged larger than usual demonstrations.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra told AFP the two men, aged 18 and 29, were shot in separate incidents along the fractious border.
The teenager was shot in the head east of Gaza City, while the older man was hit in the chest near the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Qudra told AFP.
He did not name them but said at least 55 other people were shot.
The Israeli army did not comment on the deaths but said "approximately 9,500 rioters and demonstrators" gathered in various locations, "hurling explosive devices, hard objects and rocks" at troops.
Troops were "firing in accordance with standard operating procedures," a spokeswoman said.
At least 257 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since protests began on March 30 2018.
Most have been killed during protests, though others have died in airstrikes and by tank fire.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed.
The often violent protests are demanding Palestinian refugees and their descendants be allowed to return to former homes now inside Israel.
Israeli officials say that amounts to calling for the Jewish state's destruction, and accuse Hamas of orchestrating the protests.
Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in Gaza border clashes
Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in Gaza border clashes
Iran’s foreign ministry: ‘Time has come to defend the homeland’ after US-Israeli strikes
DUBAI: Iran’s Foreign Ministry responded to a joint US-Israel attack on Saturday by saying that the country “will not hesitate” in its response to the strikes.
In a statement posted on X, the ministry said: “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault.”
Iran said it will “respond decisively” after Israel and the United States launched strikes on the country despite talks underway on Tehran’s nuclear program.
“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond decisively to the aggressors,” a foreign ministry said in a statement, insisting Iran had done “everything necessary to prevent war.”
“Just as we were ready for negotiations, we are now more prepared than ever to defend the Iranian nation,” it said.
The US and Israel launched a major attack on targets across Iran on Saturday, and US President Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to “take over your government” — an extraordinary appeal that suggested the allies could be seeking to end of the country’s theocracy after decades of tensions.
The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was there at the time. Smoke could be seen rising from the Iranian capital.
“For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries,” Trump said in a video posted on social media that sought to justify the attacks.
He urged Iranians to take cover during the strikes, but then: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”
