Two Gaza teens killed by Israel during protests

Israeli soldiers have shot and killed two Palestinian teenagers as thousands protested along the perimeter fence separating Gaza and Israel.

Hassan Shalabi, 14, was shot in the chest at one protest site in the southern Gaza Strip and Mohammed Ishtiwi, 18, was killed at a protest in east Gaza City, the Health Ministry said. He was hit with a bullet in the neck.

The ministry added that 17 other protesters were wounded.

The protests drew thousands of Palestinians to five locations along the fence, throwing rocks towards Israeli forces stationed behind the frontier.

The troops responded with barrages of tear gas and live fire.

The protest campaign, launched by Gaza’s Hamas rulers last March, has become a weekly event, and has seen the death of about 190 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier.

The violence has sometimes escalated into brief rounds of cross-border exchanges of rockets and air strikes.

The militant Hamas group demands an end to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed on the territory since 2007.

Egypt has since eased Palestinian movement through its border and Israel allowed Qatar to send financial aid to Gaza, but Hamas says this is insufficient.

Israel accuses Hamas of exploiting the protests as a cover to carry out attacks against its soldiers.

Earlier this week, Israel began reinforcing its fence, erecting a galvanised steel barrier 20ft high that will run the length of Gaza’s perimeter.