Three Palestinians killed, scores injured in fifth week of Gaza protests

Three Palestinians were killed and nearly 200 injured as thousands of protesters marched for a fifth consecutive Friday of demonstrations dubbed the 'Great March of Return'.

The ministry said two of the men, who it did not identify, were killed by Israeli fire east of Gaza City.

An AFP correspondent saw both bodies at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

A third man, identified by the ministry as 29-year-old Abdul Salam al-Bakr, was killed east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

The deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed since protests began on 30 March to 44.

Demonstrators again gathered at five sites near the border fence, though numbers were down on previous weeks.

Dozens of young men burned tyres and threw stones a few hundred metres from the border, with Israeli soldiers occasionally firing at them.

Over 154 other people were hospitalised for gunshot wounds and tear gas inhalation, Gaza's health ministry said.

A 22-year-old freelance photographer was among those shot, the ministry said.

Earlier on Friday the UN high commissioner for human rights urged Israel to refrain from using excessive force against Palestinians.

Marchers are demanding the right to return to their homes seized by Israel in 1948. 

Demonstrations are expected to spike again in the lead up to 14 May, when the United States is expected to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 

East Jerusalem is considered occupied Palestinian territory under international law.

Israel has rejected calls for an independent inquiry into the deaths along Gaza's border.