3 Palestinians injured near Gaza-Israel buffer zone

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Three Palestinian protesters were injured on Tuesday by Israeli army gunfire near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, according to Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said that the three -- whose names were not provided -- were wounded by live ammunition while they were participating in demonstrations in eastern Al-Bureij refugee camp and the northern part of the blockaded enclave.

Demonstrators demand the right to return to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

Writing by Mahmoud Barakat