GAZA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- A 23-year-old Palestinian demonstrators died on Saturday of his wounds sustained on Friday afternoon during clashes between thousands of demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, medics said.
Gaza Health Ministry Spokesman, Ashraf al-Qedra, told reporters that Mujahed Aqqel, 23 years old from al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, died of his chest wounds in a Gaza hospital on Saturday morning.
He said that death toll since Friday afternoon in the Gaza Strip has grown to five.
He added that among 232 injured Palestinians, more than 150 had been shot by Israeli soldiers' gunfire, adding that many of them suffer severe injuries and they still receive intensive medical treatment in the hospitals in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the exchange of fire continued early on Saturday between Gaza militant groups and the Israeli army, where dozens of rockets were fired from Gaza into communities in southern Israel.
In response, Israeli war jets carried out intensive airstrikes on military facilities, training posts and buildings that belong to Gaza militants, mainly Hamas and Islamic Jihad armed wings, all over the Gaza Strip.
Al-Qedra said that one of the airstrikes on northern Gaza Strip overnight wounded nine Palestinian civilians and badly damaged a hospital built by Indonesia several years ago.
Palestinian security sources in Gaza said that an Israeli war jet destroyed a 4-floor building in Gaza city and levelled it to the ground, adding that the building was empty of populations and no injuries were reported.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, Saraya al-Quds, claimed responsibility for firing the rockets into Israel.
It said in a statement that "fire for fire and blood for blood," adding that "if the Zionist enemy wants to expand the circle of fire, we are ready to do so and ready to protect our people."
Egypt has been exerting intensive efforts and held urgent contacts with the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to prevent more deterioration of the situation in Gaza, according to local media in Gaza.
