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Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – At least 14 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire on Friday during protests on the Gaza border, the enclave's health ministry said, suspended after a truce violent following a truce agreement last week.
Thousands of demonstrators moved to attend the demonstrations but largely kept their distance from the fortified border.
Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said 14 people were wounded by Israeli army fire along the border, including "a child shot in the chest at the East of Al-Bureij refugee camp "in the center of the Gaza Strip.
An AFP correspondent said the protesters were reluctant to pitch burning tires or balloons carrying burning equipment to Israel – tactics that they have frequently used since the beginning of the demonstrations at the border, in March.
Protesters were urged "to stand aside from the separation barrier and to maintain peaceful demonstrations (…) in order to give Egyptian efforts a chance to calm the game," an organizer said. l & # 39; AFP.
This was the second consecutive Friday of less violent protests since a cease-fire was negotiated by Egypt on 13 November, putting an end to the worst outbreak between Israel and Islamist leaders in Gaza. Hamas, since the war of 2014.
Efforts to achieve a more lasting truce have angered Israeli right-wing rivals of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This brought the government to the brink of collapse when the defense minister resigned last week and pulled his party out of the ruling coalition.
Netanyahu was able to avoid early elections when another key minister pledged Monday to remain a member despite major disagreements with the prime minister.
Tensions at the border with Gaza have soared from the start on March 30 of what the Palestinians call the "Great March of Return", a mass protest movement calling for the right of Palestinians to return to homes where they fled or were deported during the war surrounding the creation of Israel.
Protesters often made their way to the border fence every Friday and occasionally broke through it.
Since then, at least 235 Palestinians have been killed, mainly by Israeli gunfire in border clashes, but also by air strikes.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed during the same period.
A senior Hamas official said a delegation led by the Islamist group arrived in Cairo Wednesday to meet with Egyptian officials and discuss efforts to "stabilize the truce" with Israel.
The meeting was also to deal with reconciliation between Hamas and its rival Fatah, led by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
