Clashes on Gaza-Israel border resume, 35 wounded: medics

GAZA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between Palestinian protestors and Israeli soldiers renewed Saturday afternoon, leaving 35 Palestinians injured, medics said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Gaza Health Ministry, told reporters that 35 Palestinian young men were shot and injured by Israeli troops' gunfire all over the Gaza Strip, adding that all the injured were taken to hospitals for medical treatment.

"Most of the wounded are in moderate condition and all were shot by live bullets," said al-Qedra, adding that dozens more were treated in the field by the Palestinian medical crews after they inhaled tear gas.

It is the second day of violent confrontations that took place in the Gaza Strip between hundreds of demonstrators and Israeli soldiers close to the fence of the borders between the coastal enclave and Israel.

The clashes broke out after thousands of Palestinians joined a 6-week rally that kicked off Friday, marking the Palestinian Land Day, and is scheduled to end on May 15, the 70th anniversary of the "Nakba Day," or the day when the state of Israel was established.

Friday saw fiercer confrontations between the two sides when hundreds of young men clashed with the Israeli soldiers stationed at the borderline area to prevent any attempt of mass infiltration of demonstrators into Israel.

Al-Qedra had earlier said that 15 Palestinians were killed and 1,416 were injured on Friday, which was considered by observers as a violent day that the Gaza Strip hasn't witnessed since 2000, when the second Palestinian uprising broke out. Enditem