GAZA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Palestinians resumed on Friday their weekly anti-Israel protests known as the Great March of Return which had stopped for three weeks, according to the commission in charge of the protests.

In the eastern Gaza Strip, hundreds of protesters gathered in the afternoon in five different spots along the border with Israel, waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.

Eyewitnesses said several demonstrators cut the barbed wire of the border fence, while dozens threw stones at the Israeli soldiers stationed on the border.

In response, the soldiers fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds and prevent them from reaching the border fence, injuring dozens, they added.

The health ministry in Gaza said at least 313 Palestinians have been shot dead and more than 19,000 others injured by Israeli soldiers' live ammunition since the weekly protests started in late March last year.