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GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces on Friday killed one Palestinian and shot 40 others during clashes in the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health said.

A spokesperson for Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, told Ma’an that 20-year-old Mahmoud Muhammad Saed al-Agha was shot dead by Israeli forces when clashes broke out near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Al-Qidra said 31 others were shot and injured by live fire, 9 by rubber-coated steel bullets, and 14 suffered from severe tear gas inhalation.

An Israeli army spokesperson did not have immediate information on Friday's clashes in Gaza.

Al-Agha’s death comes shortly after a Palestinian man was killed when he reportedly attempted to drive his vehicle into Israeli military forces in Silwad, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said.

Just an hour prior, another Palestinian was shot and detained after attempting to run his car into Israeli forces deployed at the Qalandiya military checkpoint also near Ramallah, according to Israeli police.

Al-Algha is one of at least 20 Palestinians to be killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 1.

The majority were killed during demonstrations, and two -- a 2-year-old and her pregnant mother -- were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home.

Israeli military forces last Friday shot dead 41-year-old Sami Shawqi Madhi and injured 58 others in clashes across the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

Mahdi was shot in the chest and died instantly in clashes near the al-Buriej refugee camp, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip began demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem when unrest grew in the occupied area in October.

Use of force by the Israeli military during the demonstrations led the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights to condemn at the time Israel’s “excessive use of force, and violations of the right to life and security of the person."

The UN's Middle East peace envoy, Nikolay Mladenov, visited the besieged Gaza Strip earlier this week.

After the visit, the official said: “A complete generation has lost hope in peace and in the two-state solution and it is our responsibility to bring hope to the Palestinians through working