Palestinians torch Israeli flag on Gaza

Thousands of Palestinians, some burning Israeli flags and torching tires, staged a mass protest on Gaza’s sealed border with Israel for a third consecutive Friday, as part of a pressure campaign to break a decade-old blockade of their territory.

Israeli live fire from across the border fence killed a 28-year-old Palestinian man and wounded at least 223, Gaza health officials said.

The death brought to 28 the number of protesters killed in two weeks, with more than 1,500 wounded by Israeli fire since March 30, they said.

The marches have been organized by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, but large turnouts on two preceding Fridays were also driven by desperation among the territory’s 2 million residents who have been enduring a crippling border closure by Israel and Egypt since 2007.

“We want to live like everyone else in the world,” said 37-year-old construction worker Omar Hamada, an unemployed father of eight. “We came here so the world can see us and know that life here is miserable, and that there should be a solution.”

On Friday, the turnout seemed to be significantly lower than on previous Fridays — some 10,000 protesters according to the Israeli military—raising questions about the organizers’ goal of keeping the mass marches going until mid-May.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said that 969 people were hurt Friday, including 223 by live fire and the rest by tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets or shrapnel. /