Israeli fire injures dozens of protesters in Gaza

More than 30 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli fire during protests along the border between the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied territories.

Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, said the Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinians who gathered in the eastern part of Gaza Strip to protest against the Israeli occupation and to demand an end to the decade-long Israeli siege on the coastal enclave.

At least 33 protesters were wounded during the protests, according to the spokesman.

Tensions have been running high near the fence, separating Gaza from the occupied territories, since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests called “The Great March of Return.” Palestinian protesters demand the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.

The deadly clashes in Gaza reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day, or the Day of Catastrophe, which coincided this year with Washington’s relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.

Some 240 Palestinians have so far been killed and over 20,000 others wounded in the renewed Gaza clashes, according to the latest figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry.

Gaza has been under the Israeli siege since June 2007, causing a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented unemployment and poverty.