Israeli forces have shot dead two Palestinians, including one volunteer paramedic, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip, as protesters gathered along the Israeli border fence.
Abdullah al-Qatiti, a 26-year-old paramedic, and Saeed Aloul, 55, were shot and killed in southern Gaza on Friday, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said, Al Jazeera reported.
Hundreds of others were injured, with 176 being treated on the field and 131 taken to hospital, added al-Qidra
“There is a lot of tear gas being fired by the Israeli military using drones,” said Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from the protests in Gaza.
“The coming hours will be critical,” he added. “It is tense here and there are fears that if there is any serious provocation by either side, we could yet again see another escalation in violence.”
This week’s protests, which follow deadly Israeli air attacks and artillery shelling on the besieged enclave, began at around 1400 GMT local time.
The demonstrations come a day after Hamas and Israel reached an Egypt-brokered deal to end the flare-up in violence. But the Israeli government has not officially confirmed the agreement.
The European Union says a recent escalation of violence “has brought Gaza and Israel dangerously close to yet more conflict,” adding that an urgent “de-escalation” was needed to keep civilians from further risk.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed at least three people in Gaza, including a 23-year-old woman who was almost nine months pregnant and her 18-month-old daughter.
The Israeli military launched more than 140 attacks after about 150 rockets were fired from the coastal enclave. A statement by Hamas’ military force said it was responsible for the rockets. It said the Palestinian “resistance” had fired a large number of projectiles at “enemy positions in the Gaza envelope.”
“Israel is expected to continue to exercise restraint and do everything to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza. The death of a pregnant Palestinian mother and her child in this latest escalation is a tragic loss,” an EU foreign affairs spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
