Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen in Gaza

A Palestinian teenager has been killed by Israeli soldiers during protests near the fence between the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied territories.

Palestinians sources quoted the Gaza Health Ministry as saying that Ahmed Abu Habel, 15, was shot in the head by Israeli forces near a checkpoint in the Beit Hanoun area of the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Some 24 people were also injured during the clashes, according to the ministry.

Tensions have been running high near the fence since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests dubbed “The Great March of Return.” Palestinian protesters demand the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.

The clashes in Gaza reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day, or the Day of Catastrophe, which coincided this year with Washington’s relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.

More than 190 Palestinians have so far been killed and over 20,000 others wounded in the renewed Gaza clashes, according to the latest figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry.

On June 13, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by Turkey and Algeria, condemning Israel for Palestinian civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza has been under 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.