The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that 105 Palestinians have been seriously injured by Israeli occupation forces since March 30 during their participation in demonstrations of the March of Return.

At a news conference in front of Al-Shefa Polyclinic, Ashraf Qedra, the ministry’s media spokesman, said: “There have been about 3078 injured people, 105 of whom are still in a critical condition and are in intensive care units in hospitals.”

Qedra explained that “the Israeli occupation forces have intentionally fired unarmed civilians participating in the marches.” The ministry reported that 129 citizens have been injured in the head and neck.

The ministry has also documented the injury of 176 people in upper body parts, and 1027 in the lower part of their bodies, according to Qedra.

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He continued: “The ministry has also reported that 51 people have been injured in the abdomen and chest, and 68 have been injured in the basin.”

Qedra explained that there have been about 305 injured children under the age of 18, and about 78 injured women.

He also mentioned that there have been about 12 injured medical staff members, and the ministry recorded that four emergency and civil defence vehicles have been directly targeted.

In a speech during the news conference, Mounir Boursh, director general of pharmacy at the ministry, said that the continued arrival of large numbers of martyrs and injured people is “a great challenge for medical staff, as these cases drain huge quantities of medicines and medical supplies in different sections of the hospitals.”

He added: “The lack of continuous medical supply and the regular reception of martyrs and injured people in hospitals and health centres have led to an unprecedented scarcity of medicines.”

Boursh explained that there is a shortage of about 232 medicine types in the main list of the Ministry’s stores, with a deficit of 45% in the medicines storage.

The Ministry’s stores suffer from a severe shortage of medical supplies, as there is a shortage of about 229 items from the main list, according to Boursh.

Boursh called on the international humanitarian relief organisations to “support the health sector in Gaza so that it can carry on its services to the sick and injured people.”

Since March 30, Palestinians have been gathering near the border siege between Gaza and Israel as part of their participation in peaceful demonstrations of the March of Return demanding the return of Palestinian refugees to their towns and villages from which they were displaced in 1948.