At least 56 Palestinians injured by zionist Israeli forces during Gaza rallies

The Gazan Health Ministry says 56 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli forces during anti-occupation protests near the fence separating the Gaza Strip and the occupied territories.   

Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesman for the ministry, said that 24 of those wounded on Friday were shot with live bullets.

He added that 22 children and three women were among the injured.

The rallies have been held every week since March 30 last year. The Palestinians demand the right to return of those driven out of their homeland by Israeli aggression.

Israeli troops have killed at least 305 Palestinians since the beginning of the rallies and wounded nearly 18,000 others, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.

In March, a United Nations (UN) fact-finding mission found that Israeli forces committed rights violations during their crackdown against the Palestinian protesters in Gaza that may amount to war crimes.

Gaza has been under Israeli siege since June 2007, which has caused a decline in living standards.

Israel has also launched three major wars against the enclave since 2008, killing thousands of Gazans each time and shattering the impoverished territory’s already poor infrastructure.