Gaza death toll from Israeli fire rises to 62

By Nour Abu Aisha and Ali Semerci

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The number of Palestinians martyred by Israeli army gunfire during anti-occupation rallies along border of the Gaza Strip rose to 62, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Ashraf al-Qidra, the ministry’s spokesman, said in a statement that an unidentified Palestinian was martyred when Israeli soldiers opened fire at eastern border of al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Earlier in the day, a 51-year-old Palestinian -- identified as Nasser Ahmed Mahmoud Ghorab -- was martyred by Israeli forces deployed along the fraught Gaza-Israel border, al-Qidra said in a separate statement.

The fatality brings the total number of Palestinian protesters to have been killed since yesterday to 62, including 8 underaged children, according to the ministry official, who put the number of injuries at some 3,188, for the same period.

Thousands of Palestinians staged mass rallies on the Gaza Strip’s eastern border on Monday to commemorate the Nakba anniversary and protest the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Since the rallies began on March 30, more than 110 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed and thousands injured by cross-border Israeli gunfire, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Turkey has condemned the Israeli violence against Palestinian demonstrators and recalled its ambassador from Israel and the U.S. for consultations. South Africa also recalled its envoy from Israel.