Gaza officials say Palestinian killed by Israeli gunfire

GAZA, Palestinian Territory – Gaza’s health authorities say a Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli gunfire during the weekly protest along the Gaza-Israel frontier.

Alaa Hamdan, 28, died of his wounds Friday at a hospital, the Gaza health ministry said. Local media reports say he was hit in the chest by a live bullet.

Several thousand Palestinians participated in protests along the perimeter fence, burning tires and throwing rocks and firebombs toward Israeli forces behind the fortified barrier.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers launched the marches last year to protest the 12-year-old Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the territory.

Most of the more than 200 Palestinian fatalities — and an Israeli soldier — were killed in the first year of the campaign, before Hamas scaled down the protests under an official truce to improve Gaza living conditions.