Eight Palestinian protesters were wounded Saturday, including one pronounced brain dead, at a Hamas rally on the Egyptian border, medics said, according to AP. Tens of thousands of flag-waving Hamas supporters gathered at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to demand it be reopened. The border, Gaza's only gateway to Egypt, has been shut since Hamas' bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip in June. Hamas charges that Abbas' government does not want the crossing opened because that would help the Islamic group hold on to power in Gaza. Hamas gunmen fired in the air as hundreds of protesters tried to rush the border terminal and attempted to infiltrate into Egypt. A teenager was shot in the head, and was later pronounced brain dead, medics said. Seven others were wounded by gunfire and trampling. «This is a peaceful protest to voice our message that we are looking for freedom,» said Issa Mashar, a top Hamas leader in Rafah. «We came to send a message from the people who are suffering.» But when hundreds of Hamas supporters tried to storm the crossing, Hamas militiamen staved them off by firing in the air.
