GAZA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinian demonstrators clashed Friday with Israeli soldiers stationed on the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel during the weekly anti-Israel protests, better known as the Great March of Return.

Eyewitnesses said that the demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, chanted anti-Israel slogans and threw stones at the soldiers in several areas in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel.

Field paramedics said that the soldiers fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live gunshots at the demonstrators, adding that many of them were injured and suffered suffocation.

The Highest Commission of the Great March of Return had earlier called on the populations of the Gaza Strip to join the weekly rallies and protests, which started on March 30 last year in eastern Gaza.

The commission said in a statement that the protests are against the United States' decision to consider the Syrian Golan Heights under Israel's sovereignty.

Gaza Health Ministry said that since the outbreak of the weekly protests, the Israeli army has shot dead 273 demonstrators and wounded 17,000 others.