A Palestinian teenage boy has died more than a month after being shot by Israeli military forces during clashes between a group of Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in the southern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.
The spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, said in a statement that 16-year-old Suhaib Abed al-Salam Abu Kashef passed away late on Saturday at the European Hospital in Gaza City.
He had been shot and wounded during “The Great March of Return” protests east of the city of Khan Yunis, located about 25 kilometers south of Gaza City, on August 3.
More than 180 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30. Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.
The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.
On June 13, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, sponsored by Turkey and Algeria, condemning Israel for Palestinian civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.
The resolution, which had been put forward on behalf of Arab and Muslim countries, garnered a strong majority of 120 votes in the 193-member assembly, with 8 votes against and 45 abstentions.
The resolution called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to make proposals within 60 days “on ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection, and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation,” including “recommendations regarding an international protection mechanism.”
It also called for “immediate steps towards ending the closure and the restrictions imposed by Israel on movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip.”