GAZA, Friday, February 08, 2018 (WAFA) – Two Palestinians, one of them a minor, were killed and 18 others injured by live bullets or rubber-coated rounds on Friday as Israeli forces continued to attack the Great March of Return protests at Gaza-Israel border, according to the Ministry of Health.

The forces fired live bullets and rubber-coated steel rounds at the protesters who gathered at many encampments along the border, killing two protesters and injuring 18 others, including two journalists and four medics.

The killed protesters were identified as Hasan Iyad Shalabi, 14, and Hamza Mohammad Shteiwi, 18.

Some of the wounded were moved to hospital and others were treated in the field hospitals.

An ambulance was directly hit by an Israeli teargas canister at one of the encampments at Gaza border, causing suffocation to the medics inside.

More than 220 Palestinians have been killed and over 23,000 others injured by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the Great March of Return protests at Gaza border on March 30.

Most of the casualties occurred on May 14 when Israeli forces attacked Palestinian protesters marking the 70th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of historical Palestine and the ensuing ethnic cleansing of half a million Palestinian refugees.

M.N