Israeli troops shoot dead 10 Palestinian protesters, including one journalist, and wound at least 200 along the Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian medical officials say, raising the death toll to 32 in the week-long disturbances.

Israeli troops have shot dead nine Palestinian protesters and wounded at least 200 along the Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian medical officials say, raising the death toll to 31 in the week-long disturbances.

They said the demonstrators, including two teenage boys aged 16 and 17, were killed at protest sites along the frontier during a round of daily demonstrations that began on March 30 and are known as "The Great March of Return".

Gaza health officials said a well-known Palestinian journalist also died from a gunshot wound sustained while covering the demonstrations.

They said Yasser Murtaja was among two people to die overnight after being shot on Friday. Their deaths raised Friday's death toll to nine.

Murtaja was shot in the southern town of Khuzaa, which was engulfed in thick black smoke caused by burning tires set alight by demonstrators.

He was over 100 metres from the border, wearing a flak jacket marked "press" and holding his camera when he was shot.

The Israeli military has said it fired only at "instigators" involved in violence. It had no immediate comment.

The day of violence, which saw bigger Palestinian crowds than in recent days but not as large as when the demonstration began last Friday, calmed down as night descended.

The protesters, including Palestinian refugees and their descendants seeking to regain homes in what is now Israel that were lost during its 1948-49 independence war, have set up tent encampments a few hundred metres inside Gaza.

Large groups of youths ventured much closer to the no-go zone along the border, risking live fire from Israeli troops to roll burning tyres at the barrier and throw stones.

"I have two kids, a boy and a girl, and if I die, God will take care of them."

Refugees comprise most of the two million population of Israeli-blockaded Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamist militant movement Hamas.

With black tyre smoke and Israeli tear gas rising into the air, Palestinian youths used T-shirts, cheap medical masks and perfume to try and protect themselves.

Israel also tried to douse burning tyres with fire hoses from its side of the border.

The Israeli military has stationed sharpshooters on its side of the frontier to deter Palestinians from trying to break through the fence into Israeli territory.

Israel said many of those killed were militants.

'Demonstrators posing no immediate threat to life'

David Keyes, an Israeli Government spokesman, accused Hamas of having instigated violent protests along the border.

"This is a travesty for the Palestinian people that the Hamas Government is encouraging its people to attack Israel, it is encouraging its people to commit acts of violence," he said.

Hamas' Gaza leader, Yehya Al-Sinwar, spoke at a protest encampment to praise those who turned out to confront the "enemy who besieges us".

He said the demonstrations would continue, telling the crowds: "We will uproot the borders, we will pluck out their hearts, and we will pray in Jerusalem."

Earlier in the day, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem urged protesters to keep the rallies peaceful.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who holds little sway in Gaza, condemned what he described as Israel's "acts of killing and oppression conducted … against the peaceful uprising".

Seventeen of the now 27 Palestinian dead were killed by Israeli gunfire on the first day of protests a week ago, medics said.

The deaths drew international criticism of Israel's response, which human rights groups said involved live fire against demonstrators posing no immediate threat to life.

"We are saying that Israel has obligations to ensure that excessive force is not employed," UN human rights spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell said in Geneva.

Israel has said it was doing what it must to defend its border and that its troops had been responding with riot dispersal means and fire "in accordance with the rules of engagement".

The Israeli Government has ruled out any right of return for Palestinian refugees, fearing that the country would lose its Jewish majority.

"We condemn leaders and protesters who call for violence or who send protesters — including children — to the fence, knowing that they may be injured or killed," said President Donald Trump's Middle East peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt.

The protest action is set to wind up on May 15, when Palestinians mark the "Naqba", or "Catastrophe" — when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes during violence that culminated in war in May 1948 between the newly created state of Israel and its Arab neighbours. </s> When Palestinian Mohammed al-Mughari was shot by an Israeli sniper on the Gaza border, it left a hole in his leg so big he says he could fit a finger into it.

Over a month into mass protests, more than 40 Palestinians have been killed and at least 1,500 wounded by Israeli fire during the "Great March of Return", a major protest movement along the border between Gaza and Israel.

Doctors are troubled by the high number of disabling wounds, especially to the legs and knees, with Israel facing questions over both its disproportionate use of force and the types of ammunition it is using against demonstrators.

Three weeks after being shot, 28-year-old Mughari's leg is propped up and wrapped in plaster, but he's not in the clear yet. He knows there is still a possibility it might need to be amputated.

The bullet destroyed "30 centimetres of bone in the leg", he told AFP from his hospital bed in Gaza City.

Since March 30, thousands of Palestinians have gathered every Friday at points along the border separating the besieged Gaza Strip and Israel.

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

While most of the crowd stands a few hundred metres (yards) from the border fence, smaller numbers have pushed closer to burn tyres and throw stones.

Mughari declined to say whether he threw stones, but he thinks it may be years before he can return to his restaurant job.

"I was planning to get married soon. I'm not thinking about it anymore," he said.

The Israeli army says it fires live rounds only as a "last resort" to protect soldiers and the fence.

It has accused Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas of exploiting the demonstrations and using the protesters as human shields.

Since the protests began, Israeli troops have shot more than 1,500 people. The vast majority are young men, and most of the wounded were hit in the legs, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

Among those killed there have been two journalists and several teenagers.

The asymmetry of force has brought criticism of Israel's policies.

No Israelis have been injured since the protests began.

The European Union and others have called for an investigation into Israel's response, but the Jewish state has rejected the idea.

The United States, Israel's strongest backer, has blocked moves for a probe at the United Nations.

"What is unusual is the lesions and the fact that the wounds are very wide, and the bones can be in many fragments," Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, head of the Doctors Without Borders mission (MSF) in the Palestinian territories, told AFP.

The charity has given nearly 600 people post-operative care since March 30.

Abdel Latif el-Hajj, director general of hospitals in Gaza, accused Israel of using types of ammunition aimed at permanently disfiguring their targets.

He told AFP the army was using "expanding bullets" that separate inside the body, "breaking the bones and blood vessels, causing severe rupturing of the tissue".

Amnesty International on Friday said some of the wounds appear consistent with bullets that expand inside the body.

Such ammunition is considered illegal in international warfare.

AFP could not independently confirm the claim.

"The nature of these injuries shows that Israeli soldiers are using high-velocity military weapons designed to cause maximum harm to Palestinian protesters that do not pose imminent threat to them," an Amnesty statement said.

It accused Israel of "deliberate attempts to kill and maim" protesters.

In a statement the Israeli army said it was only using "standard weapons and ammunition that are lawful under international law", and accused Gaza's health ministry of regularly spreading false information.

Gaza's severely limited medical facilities have been stretched thin by the number of injuries.

Hajj estimates they have only a few weeks of saline solution and antibiotics left.

They also have only around 50 orthopaedic devices, used to support damaged bones or replace destroyed ones.

"I suspect they will be gone in a week," he said.

Ingres from MSF thinks hundreds of people will need costly treatment for months, if not years, with the risk of infection and further amputations if quality treatment is not given.

"The impact will be long term -- not only on the individuals but on the health system, on their families, on the society in total." </s> GAZA-ISRAEL BORDER (Reuters) - At least 12 Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured by Israeli security forces confronting one of the largest Palestinian demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border in recent years, Gaza medical officials said.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians, pressing for a right of return for refugees to what is now Israel, gathered at five locations along the fenced 65-km (40-mile) frontier where tents were erected for a planned six-week protest, local officials said. The Israeli military estimate was 30,000.

Families brought their children to the encampments just a few hundred metres (yards) from the Israeli security barrier with the Hamas Islamist-run enclave, and football fields were marked in the sand and scout bands played.

But as the day wore on, hundreds of Palestinian youths ignored calls from the organisers and the Israeli military to stay away from the frontier, where Israeli soldiers across the border kept watch from dirt mound embankments.

The military said its troops had used “riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators.” Some of the demonstrators were “rolling burning tires and hurling stones” at the border fence and at soldiers.

Live fire was used only against people trying to sabotage the border security fence and at least two of the dead were Hamas operatives, an Israeli military official said.

Palestinian health officials said Israeli forces used mostly gunfire against the protesters, in addition to tear gas and rubber bullets. Two people were killed by tank fire, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Witnesses said the military had deployed a drone over at least one location to drop tear gas.

Gaza health officials said one of the 12 dead was aged 16 and at least 400 people were wounded by live gunfire, while others were struck by rubber bullets or treated for tear gas inhalation.

The Palestinian protest was launched on “Land Day,” an annual commemoration of the deaths of six Arab citizens of Israel killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations over government land confiscations in northern Israel in 1976.

But its main focus was a demand that Palestinian refugees be allowed the right of return to towns and villages which their families fled from, or were driven out of, when the state of Israel was created in 1948.

In a statement, the Israeli military accused Hamas of “cynically exploiting women and children, sending them to the security fence and endangering their lives”.

The military said that more than 100 army sharpshooters had been deployed in the area and earth-moving vehicles piled up the dirt mounds to stop any attempt to breach the barrier.

Major General Eyal Zamir, head of Israel’s Southern Command, said his forces had identified “attempts to carry out terror attacks under the camouflage of riots”.

Hamas, which seeks Israel’s destruction, had earlier urged protesters to adhere to the “peaceful nature” of the protest.

Israel has long ruled out any right of return, fearing an influx of Arabs that would wipe out its Jewish majority. It argues that refugees should resettle in a future state the Palestinians seek in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Peace talks to that end have been frozen since 2014.

The protest, which also coincided with Good Friday and the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover, is scheduled to culminate on May 15, the day Palestinians commemorate what they call the “Nakba,” or “Catastrophe” when the Israeli state was created.

The protest organisers include Hamas and representatives of other Palestinian factions.

There were also small protests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and about 65 Palestinians were injured.

In Gaza, the protest was dubbed “The March of Return” and some of the tents bore names of the refugees’ original villages in what is now Israel, written in Arabic and Hebrew alike.

Citing security concerns, Israel, which withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, blockades the coastal territory, maintaining tight restrictions on the movement of Palestinians and goods across the frontier. Egypt, battling an Islamist insurgency in neighbouring Sinai, keeps its border with Gaza largely closed.

At on Gaza protest site, 80-year-old Mansi Nassar walked towards the frontier with the aid of his cane, disregarding entreaties to remain 700 metres (2,300 feet) from the barrier.

“I was born in Beit Darras inside Palestine and I will accept no less than returning to it,” he said, referring to his former home village just south of the modern Israeli city of Ashdod. The village no longer exists. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Tense scenes unfold at the Gaza-Israel border fence area

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have demonstrated in Gaza to mark the anniversary of the start of weekly protests on the boundary with Israel.

Demonstrators threw stones and burned tyres, with Israeli troops using tear-gas and live rounds in response.

Three protesters died in the clashes, Palestinian officials say, with another killed earlier on Saturday.

The protests back the declared right of Palestinian refugees to return to ancestral homes in what is now Israel.

At least 189 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed between March and December 2018, the UN says.

A UN inquiry says Israeli soldiers may have committed war crimes during the protest marches - a charge Israel rejects.

This day of protests is a serious test of the fragile calm between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that runs the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip, says the BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem.

What has happened so far?

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimated the number of protesters at about 40,000 and several thousand Israeli troops were deployed along the border.

The IDF said explosive devices had been thrown over the border fence and Israeli forces had responded with "riot dispersal means" and live bullets.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The protests come after a tense week in Gaza

Three Palestinian protesters, all teenage boys, have been killed and more than 300 have been wounded, Palestinian health officials say.

The health officials say another man was shot dead by Israeli troops close to the fence overnight.

Hamas had said it would try to keep the crowds a safe distance from the fence, with Egyptian and UN mediators trying to prevent further escalation.

The clashes were limited in scope and fears of a large number of deaths have not materialised. The protests quietened in the evening.

They came after a tense week in which Palestinian militants fired rockets at Israel and Israel's air force struck dozens of sites in Gaza.

But Palestinian sources say Egyptian mediators have made some progress in reaching a new ceasefire agreement between the Palestinians and Israel.

What happened during earlier protests?

Palestinians have been taking part in protests along the border since 30 March 2018 as part of a campaign dubbed "the Great March of Return".

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Palestinian health officials say thousands of protesters have been hit by live rounds

The Israeli government designates Hamas a terrorist group which it says has been seeking to use the protests as a cover to cross into its territory and carry out attacks.

It deployed soldiers along the border fence, who it said were ordered to resort to live fire only when absolutely necessary and when there was an imminent threat.

A commission of inquiry was set up by the UN Human Rights Council.

Thirty-five of the 189 Palestinian fatalities were children, three were clearly marked paramedics and two were clearly marked journalists, the commission found.

The inquiry found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers had shot at children, medics and journalists, even though they were clearly recognisable as such.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Paul Adams on the issues at the root of the conflict in Gaza

Four Israeli soldiers were injured at the demonstrations. One Israeli soldier was killed on a protest day but outside the protest sites, the commission said.

Unless undertaken lawfully in self-defence, intentionally shooting a civilian not directly participating in hostilities is a war crime.

Israel's acting foreign minister said it rejected the findings outright.

"The Human Rights Council's Theatre of the Absurd has once again produced a report that is hostile, mendacious and biased against Israel," Israel Katz said.

"No-one can deny Israel the right to self-defence and the obligation to protect its citizens and its borders against violent attacks." </s> Two Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire during protests near the border in Gaza, health officials said.

The shootings come amid growing international uproar over the Israeli military’s use of deadly force against unarmed protesters.

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded by live fire in a series of weekly protests led by the ruling Hamas militant group.

Medics treat Palestinian children suffering from teargas inhalation during a protest near Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip (Dusan Vranic/AP)

On Monday alone, nearly 60 people were killed in the deadliest day of violence since a 2014 war.

Palestinians resumed their protests on Tuesday, but only dozens turned out. The health ministry said the two fresh deaths occurred in separate incidents in central Gaza.

Israel claimed it is defending its border and accuses Hamas of using demonstrations as cover to carry out attacks against Israeli targets. </s> Two Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces near the fence separating Gaza from Israel, according to health officials.

Karim Abu Fatayer, 30, died after being shot in the head by an Israeli sniper.

Sa’di Akram Muammar, 26, was killed east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The number of wounded protesters has risen to 270.

Since protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed at least 166 Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave. </s> GAZA-ISRAEL BORDER: At least seven Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured by Israeli security forces confronting one of the largest Palestinian demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border in recent years, Gaza medical officials said.

One of the dead was aged 16 and most of the casualties were struck by gunfire, according to Palestinian medics who estimated the number of wounded at around 500 by mid-afternoon.

The Israeli military said that its troops had used “riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators” and that some of the demonstrators were “rolling burning tires and hurling stones” at the border fence and at soldiers.

Palestinian health officials said Israeli forces used mostly gunfire against the protesters, in addition to tear gas and rubber bullets. Witnesses said the military had used a drone in at least one location to drop tear gas.

The Palestinian protest marked “Land Day,” an annual commemoration of the deaths of six Arab citizens of Israel killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations over government land confiscations in northern Israel in 1976.

The demonstrators demanded that Palestinian refugees be allowed the right of return to towns and villages which their families fled from, or were driven out of, when the state of Israel was created in 1948.

Tensions ran high at the start of the long-planned tent protest that began on Good Friday and the start of the Jewish Passover and is scheduled to last for six weeks. Israeli security forces are customarily on a state of high alert during holidays, with tighter restrictions on movement of Palestinians.

There were also small protests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. But the main focus was Gaza, from which Israeli soldiers and settlers withdrew in 2005 after 38 years. The Gaza Strip is now ruled by the Islamist Hamas group and blockaded by Israel.

Gaza officials said tens of thousands of protesters gathered at five locations along the 65-km (40-mile), largely desert frontier with Israel. The Israeli military estimate was 17,000.

Families brought their children to camps just a few hundred metres (yards) from the border fence, with football fields marked out in the sand, and scout bands playing.

But hundreds of Palestinian youths ignored calls from the organisers and from the Israeli military to keep away, increasing the risk of confrontation with Israeli troops who had taken up positions on the other side of the fence.

In a statement, the Israeli military accused Hamas of “cynically exploiting women and children, sending them to the security fence and endangering their lives”.

The military said that more than 100 army sharpshooters had been deployed in the area and earth-moving vehicles piled up dirt mounds to stop any attempt to breach the barrier.—Reuters </s> GAZA-ISRAEL BORDER (Reuters) - At least 16 Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured on Friday by Israeli security forces confronting one of the largest Palestinian demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border in recent years, Gaza medical officials said.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians, pressing for a right of return for refugees to what is now Israel, gathered along the fenced 65-km (40-mile) frontier where tents were erected for a planned six-week protest, local officials said. The Israeli military estimate was 30,000.

The United Nations Security Council was briefed on the violence in Gaza on Friday at the request of Kuwait. Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour told the council at least 17 Palestinian civilians were killed and more than 1,400 injured.

Families brought their children to the encampments just a few hundred meters (yards) from the Israeli security barrier with the Hamas Islamist-run enclave, and football fields were marked in the sand and scout bands played.

But as the day wore on, hundreds of Palestinian youths ignored calls from the organizers and the Israeli military to stay away from the frontier, where Israeli soldiers across the border kept watch from dirt mound embankments.

The military said its troops had used live fire only against people trying to sabotage the border security fence, some of them rolling burning tyres and throwing rocks, and that at least two of the dead were Hamas operatives.

Palestinian health officials said Israeli forces used mostly gunfire against the protesters, in addition to tear gas and rubber bullets. Witnesses said the military had deployed a drone over at least one location to drop tear gas.

One of the dead was aged 16 and at least 400 people were wounded by live gunfire, while others were struck by rubber bullets or treated for tear gas inhalation, Gaza health officials said.

Two Palestinians were killed by tank fire, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said the two were militants who had opened fire at troops across the border.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement that Israel was responsible for the violence and declared Saturday a national day of mourning.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an independent, transparent investigation and appealed “to those concerned to refrain from any act that could lead to further casualties and in particular any measures that could place civilians in harm’s way,” his spokesman said in a statement.

A senior U.N. official told the U.N. Security Council there are fears the situation in Gaza “might deteriorate in the coming days.”

The United States, a close Israel ally, told the council it was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life.

“We urge those involved to take steps to lower tensions and reduce the risk of new clashes. Bad actors who use protests as a cover to incite violence endanger innocent lives,” U.S. diplomat Walter said.

A Palestinian runs during clashes with Israeli troops, during a tent city protest along the Israel border with Gaza, demanding the right to return to their homeland, the southern Gaza Strip March 30, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

RIGHT OF RETURN

The protest presented a rare show of unity among rival Palestinian factions in the impoverished Gaza Strip, where pressure has been building on Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah movement to end a decade-old rift. Reconciliation efforts to end the feud have been faltering for months.

The demonstration was launched on “Land Day,” an annual commemoration of the deaths of six Arab citizens of Israel killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations over government land confiscations in northern Israel in 1976.

But its main focus was a demand that Palestinian refugees be allowed the right of return to towns and villages which their families fled from, or were driven out of, when the state of Israel was created in 1948.

In a statement, the Israeli military accused Hamas of “cynically exploiting women and children, sending them to the security fence and endangering their lives”.

The military said that more than 100 army sharpshooters had been deployed in the area.

Hamas, which seeks Israel’s destruction, had earlier urged protesters to adhere to the “peaceful nature” of the protest.

Israel has long ruled out any right of return, fearing an influx of Arabs that would wipe out its Jewish majority. It argues that refugees should resettle in a future state the Palestinians seek in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Peace talks to that end collapsed in 2014.

Slideshow (24 Images)

There were also small protests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and about 65 Palestinians were injured.

In Gaza, the protest was dubbed “The March of Return” and some of the tents bore names of the refugees’ original villages in what is now Israel, written in Arabic and Hebrew alike.

Citing security concerns, Israel, which withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, blockades the coastal territory, maintaining tight restrictions on the movement of Palestinians and goods across the frontier. Egypt, battling an Islamist insurgency in neighboring Sinai, keeps its border with Gaza largely closed. </s> Updated 4.30pm: A Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli gunfire and 40 people have been injured in protests on the Gaza-Israel border, health officials said.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said the man was killed near the Gaza town of Khan Younis.

He was said to have been killed by a shot to the head.

Mr al-Kidra said 40 people were injured, five of them seriously, but did not provide a breakdown of the types of injuries.

The casualties were the first as new violent incidents erupted on Friday along the Gaza-Israel border fence.

The latest death brings to 23 the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza over the past week, including 17 protesters.

In the most recent protest Palestinian protesters burned tyres, sending black smoke billowing into the air and prompting Israeli troops to fire tear gas and live fire.

Today's march was the second in what Gaza's Hamas rulers said would be several weeks of protests against a decade-old border blockade of the territory.

Israel has accused the Islamic militant group of using the protests as a cover for attacking Israel's border, and has warned that those approaching the fence put their lives at risk.

On Friday, thousands of Palestinians streamed to five tent encampments organisers had set up at various points several hundred metres from the border fence.

In one camp near the border community of Khuzaa, activists moved closer to the fence and torched large piles of tyres, engulfing the area in black smoke meant to shield them from Israeli snipers.

Troops on the other side of the fence responded with live fire, tear gas and rubber-coated steel pellets. Water cannons trained a stream of thick liquid at the fence.

Within minutes, several young men with gunshot wounds began arriving at a field clinic at the camp.

Mohammed Ashour, 20, who had been among the first to set tyres on fire, had been shot in the right arm. He rested on a stretcher placed on the ground.

"We came here because we want dignity," he said before paramedics carried him to an ambulance to be transported to the strip's main hospital.

An Israeli military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, portrayed the protests as riots, and said Hamas organisers were trying to use them as a diversion to "open up the fence and then to insert terrorists into Israel".

Israel has drawn sharp criticism for its open-fire orders along the border.

The UN human rights office said it had indications that Israeli forces used "excessive force" against protesters last week.

Rights groups have branded orders permitting the use of lethal force against unarmed protesters as unlawful. A leading Israeli rights group, B'Tselem, issued a rare appeal to Israeli soldiers this week to refuse "grossly illegal" open-fire orders.

Lt Col Conricus said snipers are used "sparingly" and only against those that pose a "significant threat".

As well as the protesters, six other deaths were three gunmen killed in what Israel said were attempts to attack the border and three men who were struck by Israeli tank fire.
Around 20,000 Palestinians protest near the Israel–Gaza barrier. Medical sources say that Israel Defense Forces killed two people and wounded at least 270 others, 50 of them with live bullets.