At least 16 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli gunfire during two protests in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In one of the incidents, 14 protesters were injured during a protest against the Israeli-designated buffer zone near Jabalia in the northeast of Gaza City on Friday.
Medical sources said one of the injured, a 12-year-old boy, was in critical condition after being shot in the head.
An Israeli military spokeswoman claimed the forces opened live fire at the protesters after they threw stones at the soldiers. She also said that hundreds of Palestinians took part in the protest.
Meanwhile, a Hamas security officer and a Palestinian boy were also injured by Israeli soldiers during a different protest in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military frequently targets Palestinians along the border with the besieged enclave.
Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.