A Palestinian shot by Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza border four months ago has died, the health ministry in the coastal Strip has said.

Ahmed al-Ayeda, 17, was shot on March 30 -- the first day of months of protests along the border -- the ministry said in a statement late Sunday.

He had been in critical condition since being shot east of Bureij in the central Gaza Strip.

Palestinians in Gaza have for months been demonstrating against Israel's decade-long blockade of the territory and in support of their right to return to lands they fled or were driven from during the war surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948.

Israel besieged Gaza since 2007, waging three wars in 2008, 2012 and 2014, leaving more than 3000 killed, thousands injured and infrastructure in shambles.

In the wake of the ‘Great March of Return’ demonstrations, which started on 30 March, Gaza’s already overstretched health sector has been struggling to cope with the mass influx of casualties.

At least 160 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli occupation forces during the recent protests near the border with Israel.

Israel has maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza which it argues is necessary to isolate Hamas.

The blockade is worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, which human rights advocates have described as collective punishment of the Palestinians living in the strip.

The protests are calling for Palestinians to be able to return to the land they or their families fled in the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.

*This story has been edited by Ahram Online.