RAMALLAH, April 28 (JMCC & Reuters) - A 20-year old Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli military gunfire while protesting near the border wall in Gaza on Wednesday, witnesses said.

The man, identified as Ahmad Salim, was one of many activists and Gaza residents planting Palestinian flags near the wall in protest of the Israeli military's use of Palestinian farm-land--extending more than 300 meters--as a buffer zone.

Salim was rushed to Al-Shifa hospital where he died after suffering a gunshot to the abdomen. Local Palestinians and international activists have been holding similar demonstrations for over a month, where they have come under fire from Israel.

These are non-violent demonstrations against the Israeli imposition of the buffer zone, a foreign pro-Palestinian activist who gave her name as Eva told Reuters Television.

The Israelis say they can shoot anyone in this area. But it annexes Palestinian farmland. It annexes land where Palestinians live and work.

Last week, three were shot by the Israeli military, two Palestinians and one international. Bianca Zammit, an International Solidarity Movement activist from Malta was shot in the leg while filming the protest from a distance.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment to the killing of Ahmad Salim.