Nine killed, scores injured by Israeli fire in Gaza protest

Thousands of Palestinians have protested along Gaza's sealed border with Israel, engulfing the volatile area in black smoke from burning tyres.

Israeli troops opened fire from across the border, killing at least nine Palestinians and wounding 491 others - 33 of them seriously - in the second mass border protest in a week, Gaza health officials said.

A well-known Palestinian journalist was among the dead, and hundreds of others suffered other injuries, including tear gas inhalation, the officials said.

Early on Saturday, Palestinian health officials confirmed that Yasser Murtaga had died from a gunshot wound sustained while covering demonstrations near the Israeli border in Khuzaa. The area was the scene of large protests on Friday, and was covered in thick black smoke.

Mr Murtaga was over 100 meters from the border, wearing a flak jacket marked "press" and holding his camera when he was shot in an exposed area just below the armpit. Journalists were in the area as protesters were setting tyres on fire.

The Israeli military has said it fired only at "instigators" involved in attacks on soldiers or the border fence. It had no immediate comment.

Mr Murtaga worked for Ain media, a...