GAZA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- At least five Palestinians were injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.
The clashes were part of the weekly anti-Israel rallies, better known as the "Great March of Return" which started in late March last year.
Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters that the five injured demonstrators were sent to the hospital after they were wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire.
He added that dozens of others suffered suffocation after inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli soldiers, and they were treated by field paramedics.
The Highest Commission of the Great March of Return had earlier called on people in Gaza to join the protest, which urged putting an end to the internal Palestinian division and called for unity.
"Achieving Palestinian unity is the best option for the Palestinians to face the current critical political situation and protect the Palestinian cause from the U.S. plan Deal of the Century," said the commission.
The Palestinians have been divided since 2007, when Hamas movement seized control of the Gaza Strip, while the West Bank remained under the rule of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party.
The Israeli blockade and the internal Palestinian division between Hamas and Fatah have negatively influenced all aspects of life, mainly in the Gaza Strip.
During more than a year of weekly protests in eastern Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has shot and killed 272 Palestinians and wounded more than 16,000 others, according to Health Ministry officials.
