9 Palestinians injured during clashes with Israeli soldiers on eve of anniversary of Great March of Return rally

GAZA, march 29 (Xinhua) -- At least nine Palestinians were injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, on the eve of the first anniversary of the anti-Israel Great march of Return rally.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters that one of the nine Palestinians injured by Israeli gunfire is in critical condition.

The protests took place despite the earlier decision by the High Commission of the march of Return to postpone the weekly anti-Israel rallies every Friday since march 30, 2018.

However, the commission called for a mass march on Saturday to mark the Palestinian "Land Day" and one year of the Great march of Return rally which calls on Israel to lift 12 years of blockade imposed on the Hamas-ruled enclave.

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said 266 Palestinian demonstrators were shot dead by Israeli gunfire in the past year of protests against Israel along the Gaza Strip borders.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza said on Friday that an Egyptian security intelligence delegation informed the Palestinian factions that Israel had accepted "an important and positive package" about the Palestinian demands to enforce the cease-fire agreement.

Palestinian observers said the recent talks on the cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip were positive and constructive.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday that the Gaza Strip was "at a crossroads of lifting the Israeli blockade."

"We are working with the Egyptian mediators in Gaza to resolve the humanitarian crisis the Gazan residents suffer to end their suffering and enhance their dignity in their country," he said.