GAZA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian medics said that the Israeli army had shot dead 128 Palestinians since the beginning of the rallies on March 30 after a young man from southern Gaza Strip died Thursday of his wounds.
Ashraf al-Qedra, the health ministry spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that Ahmad al-Aassi, 21 years old, from the city of Khan Younis, who was shot in the head and critically wounded last Friday, died earlier Thursday in the hospital.
He said that death toll since March 30 has grown up to 128 killed and around 14,000 injured; around half of them were shot by live ammunition, many still in critical condition.
On March 30, the Palestinians formed the highest commission of the "Great March of Return" and had organized rallies, protests and demonstrations in five separate locations in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel.
The rallies aimed to stress the Palestinian refugees' right of return and to lift an Israeli blockade, which had been imposed on the Gaza Strip since the summer of 2007.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry condemned in a press statement Israel's decision to ban the shipment of Helium gas to the Gaza Strip, which is used for filling balloons carrying Molotov cocktails that cause large fires in Israeli agricultural field.
The statement said that banning Helium would negatively influence the health sector in the Gaza Strip, which is suffering from a severe deterioration due to the lack of medicines and medical equipment.
"The decision has a serious impact on the lives of patients in Gaza hospitals, especially those who need magnetic resonance services, numbering more than 3,000 patients monthly," said the statement.
