Gaza, Sep 29 : Seven Palestinians, including a 12-year-old, were killed and atleast 506 others wounded by Israeli soldiers during the 27th round of Friday protests along the Gaza border, according to Palestinian medical sources.

Some of the wounded protesters who required hospitalization were in critical condition, the sources said, noting that 75 of the injured had gunshot wounds, Efe reported.

"More than 20,000 rioters and demonstrators have gathered in several places as part of the violent riots along the security fence on the border of the Gaza strip," the Israel Defence Forces said in a statement.

Protesters threw grenades, explosive devices and stones at the soldiers, who were "responding with riot-dispersion measures and are firing in accordance with standard operating procedures," the IDF said, adding that Israeli planes also carried out two airstrikes in northern Gaza.

Palestinian media reported that several protesters managed to cut a section of barbed wire and attack an IDF checkpoint.

The weekly border protests began March 30 as part of the Great March of Return, aimed at demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their former homes inside and pressing the Israelis to end the blockade they imposed on Gaza in 2007.

IDF forces have killed 193 Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the Great March.

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New Delhi (PTI): With a new, stringent system to establish user identity, the number of new user IDs being added daily on the IRCTC website has declined to about 5,000 from nearly one lakh, officials said on Saturday.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the crackdown by Indian Railways on train ticket booking through fake identities is yielding positive results, according to a press note.

Before the latest reforms, this number had touched nearly one lakh new user IDs per day, it said.

"Following the introduction of a stringent system to establish user identity and detect fake IDs, about 5,000 new user IDs are now being added daily on the IRCTC website," the note said.

The officials stated that these steps have already helped Indian Railways deactivate 3.03 crore fake accounts.

"Another 2.7 crore user IDs have either been temporarily suspended or identified for suspension based on the suspicious activities they are indulging in," they said.

The Union minister directed officials to ensure that the ticketing system is reformed to a level where all travellers are able to book tickets easily through a real and genuine user ID, the press note added.

Additionally, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to provide local cuisine of the region in Vande Bharat trains.

Introducing local cuisine that reflects the culture and tastes of the regions being traversed will significantly enhance the passenger experience, officials said.

This facility will be expanded to all the trains progressively in future, they added.