GAZA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- A total of 34 Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire on Monday evening during clashes on the border between the northwestern Gaza Strip and Israel, the Gaza health ministry said.
At least 19 of them were wounded by live gunshots, Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters.
Dozens suffered suffocation after inhaling tear gas used by Israeli soldiers during the clashes, he said.
Local Radio al-Sha'ab and eyewitnesses said Israeli naval forces opened fire at around 20 demonstration fishing boats off the northern coast of the enclave.
Israeli forces have killed at least 205 Palestinians, and injured 22,000 others since March 30, the first day of the ongoing Palestinian "Great March of Return" rally against Israel's 11-year crippling blockade and the U.S. embassy move to the disputed holy city of Jerusalem, al-Qedra said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources in Gaza said the Israeli artillery fired on Monday evening several bombs at a Hamas post east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli attack came after a group of Palestinians detonated a bomb under the border ground with Israel, an Israeli media report citing an Israeli army spokesman as saying.
Earlier in the day, the Islamic Hamas movement said in an e-mailed press statement that Israel's threats against the Gaza Strip "will turn into a motive for more massive participation in the March of Return rally until it achieves its goals."
