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Photo:
Illustrative scene. File. Published by Maan News
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GAZA (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces stationed on the Gaza Strip’s eastern borders opened live fire and shot tear gas canisters at Palestinian youths on Thursday, injuring one Palestinian with a live bullet and causing many others to suffer from tear gas inhalation.

A spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said that Israeli forces injured a Palestinian with a live bullet during clashes in the east of Jabalia refugee camp. His injuries were described as moderate.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson added that Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at Palestinians in the east of Gaza city and east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, causing many to suffer from tear gas inhalation, including two medics.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an she would look into reports on the clashes.

Clashes have been erupting on Gaza’s border with Israel for two weeks, as tens of Palestinians continue to demonstrate in protest of Israel’s decade-long siege on the small Palestinian territory.

On Tuesday evening, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian protester and injured at least seven others with live fire in the besieged Gaza Strip during clashes.

After Israeli forces shot and critically injured a Palestinian teenager in the stomach with a live bullet during a protest in Gaza two weeks ago, rights group Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) denounced the Israeli army’s excessive use of live fire on Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave.

“Israeli forces’ frequent use of live ammunition at the Gaza border shows a pattern of disregard for Palestinian lives,” DCIP Accountability Program Director Ayed Abu Eqtaish said, and deplored the fact that accountability for injuries and fatalities in such cases “is extremely rare.”

In 2016, seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, when 18 Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces during clashes across the occupied Palestinian territory -- out of more than 100 Palestinians to be killed by Israelis over the course of the year.

Israeli police and soldiers have come under heavy criticism over the past year for what rights groups have referred to as “extrajudicial executions” and excessive use of force against Palestinians -- especially youth and children -- who did not pose an immediate threat or who could have been disarmed through non-lethal means, particularly during clashes.