(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency)
Gaza, Jan. 18 (Petra) ـــــ At least 15 Palestinians were injured, including two journalists and three paramedics, by live fire or rubber-coated bullets on Friday, as Israeli occupation forces attacked demonstrators taking part in the weekly Great March of Return protests in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health.
Israeli soldiers fired live bullets and rubber-coated steel rounds at the Palestinian protesters who gathered at many locations along the border, injuring TV correspondent Ahmad Ghanem, journalist Mohammad Abu-Qadus, in addition to three paramedics, Ashraf Qedrah, the Gaza health ministry's spokesman said.
Ten other demonstrators also sustained injuries from Israeli forces' gunfire, Qedrah said, adding that some of the wounded were moved to nearby hospital and others were treated at field hospitals.
He, further, said three ambulance vehicles were directly hit by teargas canisters along the east border of the impoverished Gaza Strip.
The major rise in Palestinian casualties has been one of the key factors behind the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories in 2018.
Overall, more than 295 Palestinians were killed and over 29,000 injured by Israeli forces, the highest death toll in a single year since the 2014 Gaza conflict.
Over 60 per cent of the fatalities (180 people) and almost 80 per cent of the injured (over 23,000) were in the context of Gaza's Great March of Return demonstrations, which began on 30 March 2018 and is still ongoing.
YK
18/01/2019 19:59:24
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