Some 4,000 Arabs take part in weekly "March of the Return" protests - a lower number than usual, likely due to the heat.

16 demonstrators were injured on Friday in clashes with IDF troops on the Gaza Strip border, Channel 13 News reported, citing the Hamas-run “health ministry” in Gaza.

The victims were injured by gas inhalation and by rubber bullets fired by the soldiers.

According to the report, some 4,000 Palestinian Arabs took part in the weekly riots, a lower number compared to the last few months, likely due to the heat wave in the region.

The violent weekly riots along the Gaza-Israel border, known as the “March of the Return”, have been taking place every Friday for more than a year, since March 30, 2018.

Hamas openly admitted last year that most of the Gazans who have been killed in the border riots were members of the group.

Friday’s protests took place two days after Israel announced it would reduce the fishing zone in the Gaza Strip to a range of up to 10 nautical miles until further notice.

According to the announcement, the decision was made following the firing of incendiary balloons from Gaza into Israeli territory.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)