Ramallah, February 14 (RHC)-- A Palestinian teenager has died in the Gaza Strip four days after being hit by a tear gas canister during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers stationed on the border between the eastern Gaza Strip and the occupied territories.

Spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, said in a statement that 17-year-old Hassan Nabil Ahmed Nofal died late on Tuesday night at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City from the wounds he suffered Friday when he hit in the head by the cartridge.   Nofal was hit when the canister was fired several meters from him during a “Great March of Return” protest east of Bureij refugee camp.

Another 17 demonstrators suffered gunshot wounds, while dozens of Palestinians suffered excessive tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces sought to suppress the protest rallies.

Palestinians have held weekly protests on the Gaza border, over the siege on the enclave and the right for refugees to return to their homes they were forcibly expelled from during the 1948 creation of Israel.

More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30th last year.  Over 26,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.