By Mohamed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine 

For the 44th consecutive week, Palestinians on Friday gathered along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to take part in ongoing rallies against Israel’s decades-long occupation.

During Friday’s demonstration, at least one Palestinian protester was killed by Israeli army gunfire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

“The young man was killed near the buffer zone, while another 22 people -- including 14 children -- were hurt by live ammunition,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement.

He did not provide the name of the slain Palestinian. 

Earlier Friday, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the army had sent reinforcements to the buffer zone in anticipation of possible clashes.

Since Palestinians began demonstrating along the buffer zone in March of last year, more than 250 protesters have been killed -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.

Demonstrators demand the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes 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 two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

The rallies typically see the participation of leaders of Palestinian resistance factions, including Hamas (which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007), Islamic Jihad, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.