GAZA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian young man on Monday died of wounds he suffered during anti-Israel protests along Gaza-Israel border, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Karam Arafat, 26, succumbed to the injuries during confrontations with Israeli soldiers three weeks ago in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza, said in a statement.

Arafat was shot in the head and received treatment in a hospital in Gaza, he added.

This brings the death toll of Palestinian protesters to 146 since the anti-Israel rally, known as the "Great March of Return," started on March 30.

The protests, which peak every Friday, demand the return of Palestinian refugees, who were forced to leave their homes during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, and the lift of the blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza since 2007.