Gaza City, August 23 (RHC)-- Israeli forces have attacked Palestinian protesters gathering at the fence between the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied territories, leaving more than 70 people injured.  The Gazan Health Ministry released the casualty toll on Friday.  It said the Israeli forces also wounded three medics.

Palestinians have been holding weekly rallies in the area since last year to protest the siege on Gaza and stress the right to return of the refugees who have fled Israeli aggression since 1948.  At least 305 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since the anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30, 2018. Over 18,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.

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.