By Hedaya al-Saeedi

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Two Palestinians were injured on Monday by Israeli army gunfire near the Gaza Strip's city of Beit Lahia.

The two were shot while attempting to stage a “maritime protest” against Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza on the strip’s northern coast, Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a statement.

Since March, more than 210 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire -- and thousands more injured -- while taking part in protests in the Gaza Strip.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the strip, which has gutted Gaza’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.