GAZA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least two Palestinians were killed and 76 wounded on Friday afternoon during clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers near the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, medics said.

Health Ministry in Gaza said in a press statement that Ali el-Ashqar, 17, was shot dead in the head with an Israeli army gunshot in the east of Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel.

The ministry said that another Palestinian young man, Khaled al-Raba'ei, 14, was shot dead in the east of Gaza city, adding that 76 others were injured and 46 of them were shot by Israeli soldiers' gunfire during clashes in eastern Gaza Strip.

Hazem Qassem, spokesman of the Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, warned Israel in a press statement that Israel will be fully responsible for the consequences of killing two Palestinian teenagers in eastern Gaza on Friday.

"The occupation (Israel) must be classified as a terrorist state and must pursue its leaders as war criminals," said Qassem, stressing that "these crimes won't stop our struggle to extract our freedom and gain our occupied territories back."

Since March 30, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been joining the weekly anti-Israel protests and rallies, better known as the Great March of Return and Breaking the Israeli Siege imposed on the coastal enclave since 2007.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that hundreds of demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and threw stones at Israeli army forces stationed on the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel.

A statement by the Health Ministry in Gaza said that since the outbreak of the marches last year, the Israeli army forces shot and killed 310 Palestinians and wounded thousands by live ammunition. Enditem

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