A number of Palestinians were injured on Friday afternoon when the Israeli occupation forces heavily opened fire at the peaceful protesters taking part in the Great March of Return on Gaza border. RNA - The PIC reporter said, quoting the Ministry of Health, that 17 Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire, while dozens others choked on tear gas, Palinfo reported.
The Ministry of Health announced that a journalist and three paramedics were directly attacked with tear gas bombs.
Hundreds of Palestinians marched along the border between the Gaza Strip and the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories on the 49th Friday of the Great March of Return.
According to the Higher National Committee of the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege, Friday's demonstrations also celebrate the opening of Bab al-Rahma gate in Jerusalem after 16 years of closure.
The committee affirmed that the Great March of Return will continue until it achieves its goals, mainly breaking the 13-year-long blockade on the Gaza Strip.
For his part, Hamas's Spokesman Hazem Qasem said that as the first anniversary of the Great March of Return is approaching, it is clear that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are more determined to break the siege by all possible peaceful means.
Since late March 2018, the Gazans have been demonstrating on a weekly basis along the Eastern border calling for the return of Palestinian refugees expelled from their lands in 1948 and demanding an end to the Gaza blockade.
The Israeli occupation army has killed 267 protesters and injured over 27,000 others, nearly 500 of whom are in critical condition.