Israelis blamed in 3 shooting deaths

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, as thousands of people protested Friday along the fence dividing the Gaza Strip and Israel, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

The ministry said the boy was struck in the chest, a 24-year-old man was shot in the back and another man, 28, succumbed to his wounds at a hospital.

It added that 126 protesters were wounded by live fire.

Responding to calls by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, thousands of Palestinians thronged five areas along the fence, burning tires, throwing rocks and chanting slogans against a stifling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the territory.

The Israeli military said about 20,000 protesters participated. They threw explosive devices and grenades toward the troops which used tear gas and live fire to disperse the crowds, it added.

At least at two locations, young men with bolt cutters tore the frontier fence but did not break into Israeli territory, according to the military.

Israeli aircraft carried out two airstrikes in what the army said was a response to the firing of explosives. There were no casualties.

Hamas wants an end to the blockade that has shattered the economy and put the unemployment rate at more than 50 percent, plaguing most of Gaza’s 2 million residents.