Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man on Friday during a seventh week of protests on the Gaza border, the health ministry in the enclave said.
The 40-year-old died after being shot in the chest near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, while 18 people received bullet wounds in the protests on Friday, the ministry said.The death takes to 53 the number of Palestinians killed since protests began on March 30 calling for Palestinians to be able to return to the homes they fled in 1948, which are now inside Israel.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered at five different points along the border, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live ammunition, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Israel's army said around 5,000 Palestinians took part in Friday's protest.
"The rioters burned tyres, threw stones at the security fence and Israeli soldiers" and also flew kites carrying incendiary devices to set fire to Israeli territory, Israel's army said in a statement.
The protests are due to culminate on Monday or Tuesday next week, to coincide with the controversial relocation by the United States of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital infuriated Palestinians, who see the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state.
