GAZA, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Clashes broke out Friday afternoon between hundreds of protesters and Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, wounding at least 11 people, medics said.
The health ministry in Gaza said in a press statement that Israeli soldiers stationed at the borderline area fired tear gas canisters and live ammunition at the protesters, who waved Palestinian flags and threw stones at the soldiers.
The statement said that seven of the casualties were injured by live gunshots, including one in serious condition, and four others were hit by tear gas canisters, including an old man who was hit by a canister in his head.
On Friday, hundreds of Palestinian protesters marched to four eastern Gaza Strip spots close to the border with Israel on the tenth Friday of rallies and protests, which the Palestinians call "The Great March of Return and Defying the Israeli Blockade."
The rallies began on March 30 and called for the Palestinian refugees' right of return and ending an Israeli blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip since the summer of 2007, when Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the enclave.
The health ministry said in a statement that since March 30, the Israeli army killed 118 Palestinians and wounded thousands during the protests and confrontations with the Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel.
Every Friday, the rallies' organizers release a name for the protests. They called this Friday's rally "Friday from Gaza to Haifa" to express solidarity with Israeli-Arabs who protested in the northern Israeli city of Haifa in support of Gaza rallies.
During the protests, demonstrators waved flags of Kuwait for its position in the United Nations and for presenting a bid to the Security Council that calls for ensuring international protection to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The protesters also flew dozens of kites carrying flames of fire that landed on Israeli agricultural fields and caused huge fires into Israel. Other protesters managed to cut and pull parts of the barbed wire on the border's fence between eastern Gaza and Israel.
