GAZA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of angry Palestinians buried on Saturday four Gaza Strip residents who were shot dead by Israeli gunfire during clashes close to the border fence between the eastern Gaza Strip and Israel.

The mourners took the bodies from the hospital in Gaza city, shouting slogans against Israel and demanding revenge for the killing.

Ashraf al-Qedra, Health Ministry spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that three people, including a 16-year-old boy, were killed by Israeli soldiers' gunfire, while an 18-year-old young man succumbed to his injuries.

A total of 40 people were shot and injured by live gunshots, with dozens suffering suffocation after inhaling tear gas, he added.

According to al-Qedra, the Israeli army has killed 244 Palestinians and wounded more than 25,000 others since March 30, the first day of the ongoing anti-Israel "Great March of Return" rally.

The leaders of Islamic Hamas movement, ruler of the Gaza Strip, have said the protests won't stop until Israel lifts the blockade it has imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Meanwhile, Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas, slammed the ongoing security coordination between the Palestinian Authority security body and the Israeli Interior Intelligence Service.

"The Palestinian and Arab co-existence with the occupation (Israel) is a stab in the back of the pure Palestinian resistance," he said.