49 Palestinians injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza: official
Gaza (Xinhua/UNI) At least 49 Palestinians were injured on Friday afternoon during clashes between hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, an local official said.
Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the health ministry in Gaza, told reporters that 49 demonstrators were injured, including 14 children.
Clashes broke out on Friday afternoon between the Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli soldiers during the weekly anti-Israel protests, better known as the Great March of Return.
The weekly marches and protests have been going on since March 30 last year, calling on Israel to end more than 12 years of a tight blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, approached the border fence between eastern Gaza and Israel, chanted anti-Israel slogans and threw stones and homemade hand grenades at the Israeli soldiers stationed on the border.
The health ministry in Gaza said earlier in an emailed press statement that the Israeli army has killed 312 demonstrators and wounded more than 19,000 by live gunfire since the beginning of the weekly protests.
Hazem Qassame, spokesman of Hamas movement in Gaza, said in an emailed press statement that the participation of masses of demonstrators "is to show that the Palestinians are sticking to their legitimate rights."
"The marches insist that the unfair siege must be lifted and the Palestinian rights must be regained," he added.
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