UPDATE - Israel attacks protesters along security fence with Gaza

UPDATES WITH NUMBER OF PEOPLE INJURED; REVISES DECK, LEDE, ADDS DETAILS

By Ramzy Mahmoud

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 14 Palestinian protesters were injured as the Israeli army fired on them near the security fence in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medical sources and witnesses said.

Paramedics transported demonstrators who were injured by live bullets and suffocated by tear gas canisters during a protest march called by the National and Islamic Forces, a coalition of Palestinian political groups.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that five people were injured with live bullets, two with rubber bullets, and the remaining seven suffered minor injuries with tear gas canisters.

The protest was to reject the Israeli siege, and call for the reconstruction of Gaza after the recent 11-day Israeli aggression in May, which Palestinian armed factions name "The Battle of the Sword of Jerusalem".

"The popular activities will continue until the siege imposed on Gaza is lifted," Muhammad al-Hindi, a leading figure of the Islamic Jihad group, said in a speech at the protest.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian factions in Gaza have announced they have sent a message through Egypt to Israel on the latest escalation.

More than two million Palestinians are living in blockaded Gaza. They suffer from very poor living conditions as a result of the continuous Israeli blockade imposed on the coastal enclave since 2006.

*Writing by Bassel Barakat in Ankara