The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire since the beginning of the Great March of Return protests on March 30 has climbed to 176 according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
According to the Ministry report 168 Palestinians were proclaimed dead in Gaza hospitals since the start of the events while the bodies of eight martyrs are still held in Israeli morgues.
27 children and three women were among the reported martyrs the report said.
Meanwhile more than 18000 people have been injured during the protests in Gaza. Around 417 of them are in critical condition.
3540 of those injured are children and 1728 are women” the ministry said adding that three medical staff were killed during the protests while 370 others were among the injured.
The Palestinians had begun staging mass rallies along Gaza borders on March 30. They demand their right of return to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948.
The protesters also demand an end to Israel’s decade-long blockade of the Gaza Strip which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
