Gaza City, January 5 (RHC)-- Israeli forces have attacked anti-occupation protests along the border between the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied territories, leaving at least 23 Palestinians injured.

According to a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli forces used gunfire and tear gas against the protesters east of the coastal enclave on Friday.  Reports say that at least 14 protesters were injured during the clashes in addition to seven medics and a journalist.

Tensions have been running high near the fence separating Gaza from the occupied territories since March 30th last year, which marked the start of the protests.  Palestinian protesters demand the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.

The clashes in Gaza reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day, or the Day of Catastrophe, which coincided this year with Washington's relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem.

More than 240 Palestinians have so far been killed and over 20,000 others wounded in the renewed Gaza clashes, according to the latest figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry.