Israeli cops open fire on Palestinians protesting in Gaza

Several Palestinians were hurt after Israeli police opened fire and used tear gas against them while they were participating in a protest on Gaza Strip's eastern border with Israel, reported Al Jazeera.

The protest occurred following a so-called 'flag march' by far-right Israelis on Thursday in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem.

On Thursday, hundreds of Palestinians took part in the protest that had been scheduled by the Palestinian factions in response to the Israeli march.

The protest in Gaza denounced the Jerusalem 'flag march' and demanded a stop to Israeli raids on the Al Aqsa mosque complex.

Israeli authorities stated that after Palestinians threw explosives at the fence separating Israel and Gaza, its officers opened fire, according to Al Jazeera.

Violence has occurred in recent years as a result of the event, which is commemorated yearly to mark the occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem.

After unrest broke out following Israeli soldiers' storming of the Al Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, and the deportation of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah district, both in East Jerusalem, the march was rerouted in 2021, reported Al Jazeera.

Last week, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) carried out retaliatory strikes in the Gaza Strip that it claimed were directed at two underground Islamic Jihad rocket launchers as a result of missile alarms that had been heard in southern and central Israel.

After five days of intense fighting, Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad somehow agreed to a ceasefire, which was brokered by Egypt, said The Times of Israel.

The fighting resulted in the death of 33 Palestinians, including at least 13 civilians. Two people in Israel were killed by rocket fire.

While the calm brought a sense of relief to Gaza's more than 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fuelled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip.