Ramallah, December 21 (RHC)-- Dozens of Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli forces during protests against the Tel Aviv regime near the fence separating the besieged Gaza Strip from the occupied territories.  The Gazan Health Ministry said 30 people were injured during the 85th Friday of protests in the eastern part of Gaza.

Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesman for the ministry, said in a tweet that eight of the wounded had been shot with live ammunition fired by the Israeli troops.  The “Great March of Return” rallies have been held every week since March 30th last year.  The Palestinians want the return of those driven out of their homeland by Israeli aggression.

Israeli troops have killed at least 307 Palestinians since the beginning of the rallies and wounded more than 18,000 others, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.

In March, a United Nations fact-finding mission found that Israeli forces committed rights violations during their crackdown against the Palestinian protesters in Gaza that may amount to war crimes.

Gaza has been under Israeli siege since June 2007, which has caused a decline in living standards.  Israel has also launched three major wars against the enclave since 2008, killing thousands of Gazans each time and shattering the impoverished territory’s already poor infrastructure.