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Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Families held funerals Saturday for seven Palestinians, including two children, killed by Israeli soldiers during violent protests along the Gaza border. The Gaza Health Ministry identified the dead as Mohammad Nayef al-Houm, 14, Iyad Khalil Shaer, 20, Mohammad Walid Haniya, 24, Mohammad Bassam Shakhsa, 24, Nasser Musabbeh, 12, Mohammad Ali Inshasi, 18, and Mohammad Ashraf Awawdeh, 26.
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Palestinian news agency WAFA reported four were buried in Gaza City, two in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, and the youngest, Nasser, was buried in Khan Younish.
The seven died during a protest Friday in a Hamas-controlled part of the Gaza strip. Israel Defense Forces said a "mob" of 20,000 people threw bombs and grenades at the border in an attempt to reach Israeli homes.
"Our troops are there to do what is necessary to protect Israeli civilians," the IDF said Friday.
The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 500 people were injured during the protests, including 90 from live bullet wounds. The agency said four had critical injuries.
The demonstrators were taking part in weekly Friday protests at locations along the border. The demonstrations, named the Great March of Return, call for the return of refugees to their homes and lands from which they were displaced in 1948.
The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 193 Palestinians have been killed since the protests began March 30. Friday was the deadliest day of protests.
