GAZA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 37 Palestinian demonstrators were injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters that among the 37 injured palestinians were 14 shot and wounded by Israeli gunfire.

He added that 10 children were among the injured.

Palestinian demonstrators resumed on Friday the weekly anti-Israel protests and rallies known as the Great March of Return which had stopped for three weeks.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in the afternoon in five different spots along with the border with Israel in eastern Gaza, 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.