国际英语新闻:4 Palestinians injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza: ministry

GAZA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Four Palestinians were shot and injured on Monday evening during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, the health ministry said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters that the four moderately injured were transferred to a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, local media and eyewitnesses said dozens of people suffered suffocation after inhaling the tear gas fired by the Israeli soldiers stationed on the border with the Gaza Strip.

Protests have been organized every Monday and Friday since the beginning of the Great March of Return rally on March 30, calling for the end of Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007.

According to the Health Ministry, at least 223 Palestinians have been killed and about 24,000 others injured since the Palestinian mass rally.

Leaders of the Palestinian factions, including Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip, insist that anti-Israel marches, rallies and protests will go on until the goal of ending the Israeli siege is achieved.