Palestinians burn tires at the border fence with Israel, east of Jabalia in the central Gaza city, during a protest on April 13, 2018.

One Palestinian was killed and 233 were wouned by live israeli fire as more than 10,000 protested along the Israel-Gaza border on Friday, burning tires and Israeli flags, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

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According to the Israeli army, protests were held at five different sites along the border.

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The Health Ministry in Gaza identified the Palestinian killed in the protest as Asalam Saudi Hasralla, 28. Overall, 969 Palestinians were wounded in Friday's protest, with 233 wounded by live fire and 419 evacuated to the hospital. Of those wounded, 20 were women and 67 were under age 18. Thirteen Palestinians were wounded by rubber-tipped bullets. The ministry noted that the number of protesters was lower than last week.

According to the army, numerous attempts to destroy obstacles erected by the army were made during the day. They also said that a number of attacks were attempted, with explosives and firebombs thrown at the border, as well as gunfire.

Third week of protests along Gaza border

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Later on Friday, the Israeli military said that attempts were made to breach and cross the border fence. An explosive charge was thrown in the Karni area, and firebombs were thrown at the border. A kite with a Molotov cocktail was sent towards the Israeli side of the border, but it fell on the side of Gaza, and no one was hurt.

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Palestinians: Smoke grenade fired a medical tent, ten medics suffer smoke inhalation - דלג Palestinians: Smoke grenade fired a medical tent, ten medics suffer smoke inhalation

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The army reiterated it is opening fire only according to its protocols and will not allow anyone to harm Israel's "defense infrastructures," calling demonstrators "violent rioters and terrorists."

Palestinians said that a smoke grenade was fired at a medical tent, causing ten medics to suffer from smoke inhalation.

Friday's protests were the third round of mass demonstrations in the Gaza Strip, amid reports in Gaza that some demonstrators were preparing firebombs for what they termed “Molotov Day,” a reference to so-called molotov cocktails. The demonstrations’ organizers, however, denounced that idea, stressing that the protests are meant to be “nonviolent resistance.”

Palestinians take cover from tear gas smoke during clashes with Israeli security forces near border fence with Israel, east of Gaza City in the central Gaza Strip on April 13, 2018. Several thousand G MAHMUD HAMS/AFP

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One organizer told Haaretz that "Israel is trying in every way to pin the marches on Hamas and it's very convenient for them if this action becomes violent on the Palestinian side, and that's why we won't allow it."

He charged that Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas positions over the past week show that Israel is trying to draw the Palestinians, and especially Hamas, into a full-on confrontation.

As this Friday’s theme, organizers plan to have the demonstrators burn Israeli flags and wave Palestinian ones.

The kite with a Molotov cocktail that was meant to fly over the Gaza border on April 13, 2018.

Army braces for violence

Due to both the demonstrations in Gaza and the tension in the north, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has cut short his trip to Poland, where he was participating in the annual March of the Living. He had decided to cut the trip short before he left and even considered not going at all, because of the situation in Syria. Ultimately, however, he decided to go but return a day early.

On the Gazan front, the IDF has used both sticks and carrots over the past week to persuade Hamas to stop the violent attacks that have accompanied the Palestinian demonstrations.

If Hamas doesn’t stop the violence, the army warned, Israel will retaliate by attacking Hamas positions deep inside Gaza. But it also offered an economic carrot in the form of expanding the zone in which Gazan fisherman are allowed to fish – a decision that was hardly self-evident given that just last week, the state indicted a Gaza resident for planning attacks on Israeli naval vessels together with several co-conspirators.

The IDF expects this Friday’s demonstration to attract roughly the same number of people as last Friday’s, but hopes that it will be less violent on both sides. It has stressed that it won’t tolerate continued violent demonstrations in Gaza at a time when tensions are running high in the north.

Overall, almost 1,300 Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers over the past couple of weeks of mass protests on the Gaza-Israel border, according to a computerized count by the Gaza Health Ministry. An additional 1,554 Gazans have been treated for tear gas inhalation or injuries by rubber-coated steel pellets.

In addition, 34 Palestinians have been killed during this period, including 27 in border demonstrations. </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. </s> 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> Fares Akram And Mohammed Daraghmeh, The Associated Press 

 



GAZA, Palestinian Territory -- Thousands of Palestinians, some burning Israeli flags and torching tires, staged a mass protest on Gaza's sealed border with Israel for a third consecutive Friday, as part of a pressure campaign to break a decade-old blockade of their territory.

Israeli live fire from across the border fence killed a 28-year-old Palestinian man and wounded at least 223, Gaza health officials said.

The death brought to 28 the number of protesters killed in two weeks, with more than 1,500 wounded by Israeli fire since March 30, they said.

The marches have been organized by Gaza's Hamas rulers, but large turnouts on two preceding Fridays were also driven by desperation among the territory's 2 million residents who have been enduring a crippling border closure by Israel and Egypt since 2007.

"We want to live like everyone else in the world," said 37-year-old construction worker Omar Hamada, an unemployed father of eight. "We came here so the world can see us and know that life here is miserable, and that there should be a solution."

On Friday, the turnout seemed to be significantly lower than on previous Fridays -- some 10,000 protesters according to the Israeli military -- raising questions about the organizers' goal of keeping the mass marches going until mid-May.

Gaza's Health Ministry said that 969 people were hurt Friday, including 223 by live fire and the rest by tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets or shrapnel. Fifteen of the wounded were in serious conditions, including a Gaza journalist. The count also included 67 minors and 20 women, health officials said.

Rights groups have described the Israeli military's open-fire regulations as unlawful, saying they permit soldiers to use potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters.

Israel has accused Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers of using the protests as a cover for attacks and says snipers only target the main "instigators."

On Friday, most of the demonstrators assembled at five tent camps located several hundred meters (yards) from the border fence.

Smaller groups moved closer to the fence, throwing stones, torching tires and burning large Israeli flags, U.S. flags, as well as posters of Israel's prime minister and defence minister. Large plumes of black smoke from burning tires rose into the sky.

Israeli forces fired tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and live rounds. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said that Palestinians repeatedly tried to damage the border fence, throwing several explosives and fire bombs at it.

Footage distributed by the military showed an area of the fence made up of several layers of barbed wire coils. Protesters stuck a Palestinian flag into the fence and affixed a rope, using it to tug at the coils. One man threw a burning tire into the fence, while another was seen walking nearby with the help of a crutch.

Gaza has endured a border blockade by Israel and Egypt since Hamas overran the territory in 2007, a year after winning Palestinian parliament elections.

The blockade has driven Gaza deeper into poverty, with unemployment approaching 50 per cent and electricity available for less than five hours a day.

The marchers are protesting against the blockade, but are also asserting what they say is a "right of return" of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel.

Hamas leaders have sent mixed signals about whether they plan an eventual mass breach of the border fence. The protests are to culminate in a large rally on May 15, the 70th anniversary of Israel's creation. Palestinians mourn the event as their "nakba," or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were uprooted in the 1948 war over Israel's creation.

Several thousand people gathered Friday at one of the tent camps, east of Gaza City. The camp was decked out in Palestinian flags. At the entrance, organizers had laid a large Israeli flag on the ground for protesters to step on.

Hamada, the construction worker, was critical of Hamas, saying the group has set back Gaza by decades, but added that "this is the reality and we have to deal with it."

Critics argue that Hamas' refusal to disarm is a key reason for the continued blockade. One path toward lifting the blockade would be to have Hamas' political rival, West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, take over the Gaza government, but recent Egypt-led talks on such a deal appear to have run aground.

The debate over Israel's open-fire regulations has intensified with a rising number of dead and wounded since the first protests on March 30.

In all, 35 Palestinians were killed in the past two weeks, 28 during protests. Seven were killed in other circumstances, including six militants engaged in apparent attempts to carry out attacks or infiltrate Israel.

The Israeli military has argued that Gaza militant groups are trying to turn the border area into a combat zone, and said it has a right to defend its sovereign border.

Conricus said Friday that the military is trying to minimize Palestinian casualties, but hadn't changed open-fire regulations.

Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's centrist Yesh Atid party, called Hamas a "despicable terror organization" and accused it of exploiting civilians. He said the Israeli military is "operating against it (Hamas) with determination and according to international law."

Human rights groups have reiterated that soldiers can only use lethal force if they face an apparent imminent threat to their lives.

The Israeli rights group B'Tselem said Friday that open-fire policy must not be dictated by worst case scenarios, such as a feared mass breach of the border. "An order to open live fire at unarmed protesters is manifestly unlawful," it said.

Another Israeli group, Breaking The Silence, published a statement by five former snipers in the Israeli military who said they were "filled with shame and sorrow" over the recent incidents in Gaza.

"Instructing snipers to shoot to kill unarmed demonstrators who pose no danger to human life, is another product of the occupation and military rule over millions of Palestinian people, as well as of our country's callous leadership, and derailed moral path," said the statement.

The group has been criticized in Israel for publishing often anonymous testimony by current or former Israeli soldiers who have misgivings about their military service and treatment of Palestinians.

The five ex-snipers in Friday's statement were identified by name.

Akram reported from Khuzaa, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank, and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report. </s> GAZA CITY: Gaza's Health Ministry says three Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, have been killed by Israeli fire during protests along the border.

Thousands of Palestinians protested along the Israel-Gaza border fence Friday, burning tires and hurling rocks toward Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas and gunfire.

The ministry said three protesters died from gunfire and 75 others were wounded.

The Israeli military says it carried out an airstrike after protesters hurled grenades and explosives at soldiers.

Gaza's Hamas rulers have staged weekly protest marches for months, pressing for an end to a decade-long Israeli-Egyptian blockade.

The Islamist militant group seized Gaza from the Palestinian Authority by force in 2007.

Since March, 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops during the protests, and a Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli soldier. </s> Update 2.36pm: Two Palestinians have been killed after Israeli troops opened fire on protesters across the border fence, health officials said.

The shootings came as thousands of Palestinians joined the fourth weekly protest on Gaza's border with Israel on Friday, with some burning tyres or flying kites which carried flaming rags.

Huge black plumes of smoke from the blazing tyres engulfed the area, as Israeli troops fired tear gas and live bullets, witnesses said.

Gaza's health ministry said 40 protesters were injured, but did not say how many of those were wounded by gunfire or overcome by tear gas.

The protests are part of what organisers, led by Gaza's ruling Hamas group, have billed as an escalating showdown with Israel, to culminate in a mass march on May 15. Organisers have made conflicting statements about whether they plan an eventual mass border breach.

In the past three weeks, 28 Palestinians were killed and hundreds wounded by Israeli troops firing from across the border fence.

In addition, two Palestinian men, aged 24 and 25, were shot and killed in a border area in northern Gaza, the health ministry said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Hamas said the protests are aimed at breaking a crippling border blockade that was imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant group overran Gaza in 2007, a year after winning Palestinian parliamentary elections.

The Israeli military has said it is defending Israel's border and that its troops, including snipers, only target "instigators". It has also accused Hamas of using mass protests as a cover for attacks.

Earlier: Palestinian man dies after being shot by Israeli soldier

A 25-year-old Palestinian man has died after being critically wounded by Israeli army fire near Gaza's border with Israel.

The Gaza health ministry said the man had been shot in the head.

It did not provide details about the circumstances of today's shooting, which came as Palestinians were gathering for a fourth weekly mass protest on the border.

The Israeli military said it is looking into the incident.

Before Friday, 28 Palestinian protesters had been killed and hundreds wounded by Israeli army fire from across the border fence since the protests began in late March. </s> The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 500 Palestinians were injured Friday by Israeli troops, who used gunfire and tear gas to repel numerous attempts by Palestinians to cross the border fence separating the Palestinian-governed Gaza Strip from Israel.

The violence erupted after thousands of Palestinians staged a protest along the border, the third weekly protest scheduled through mid-May. The protests already have resulted in dozens killed and thousands injured.

The protesters gathered at tent camps several hundred meters from the border fence. After smaller groups approached the fence burning Israeli flags and tires and hurling stones, Israeli soldiers fired live bullets and tear gas.

The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 500 protesters were injured, 122 of them by gunshots. Ten nurses and paramedics and two journalists were among the wounded. One man died of earlier injuries, bringing the overall death toll to 34, the ministry said.

The protesters are demanding an end to the decade-old blockade and a return of Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel, where their ancestors lived before being forced to flee after the establishment of Israel in 1948. Israel repeatedly has ruled out any right of their return over concerns Israel would lose its Jewish majority.

Some rights groups maintain Israel's open-fire rules are unlawful because troops potentially can use lethal force against unarmed protesters. Amnesty International demanded Friday that Israel "put an immediate end to the excessive and lethal force being used to suppress Palestinian demonstrations in Gaza." It also reiterated its demand for an independent probe into the killings.

The Israeli military said it responded "with riot dispersal means and are firing in accordance with the rules of engagement."

Israel has accused Hamas, which governs Gaza, and with whom Israel has fought three wars since 2008, of using the protests to incite violence. But Palestinians maintain protesters are being shot while posing no threat to Israeli troops.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the European Union have called for an independent investigation. </s> 'Four Palestinians dead' in protests, Gaza's health ministry says

'Four Palestinians dead' in protests, Gaza's health ministry says

Tear gas canisters have been fired at Palestinian protesters in Gaza

Israeli forces have killed four Palestinian protesters as demonstrations take place on the Gaza border, the territory's health ministry has said.

Adham Amara, 17, died at a protest camp in Gaza City, while Tamer Abu el-Khair, also 17, died in hospital after being shot in the southern city of Khan Younis, authorities said.

Another teenager Belal al-Najjar, 17, was also shot dead at a protest location, the ministry said.

Their deaths came hours after Mohammed Saad, 21, was killed during skirmishes overnight as tens of thousands of Palestinians mark a year of weekly demonstrations on the border.

A Gaza hospital worker said Mr Saad was a member of the so-called "night disturbance unit", which routinely burns tyres, flashes laser lights and detonates explosives to distract soldiers and disturb residents of Israeli communities.

Sixty-four other protesters have reportedly been injured in Israeli gunfire today.

Image: A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to target Israeli forces

Image: Paramedics are in attendance during the protests

The marches are calling for an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, which was imposed when Hamas took over Gaza by force in 2007.

The Israeli army, which has tanks and mobile artillery guns stationed near the fence, says 40,000 Palestinians have gathered for the protest.

The demonstrators have responded to Hamas' calls for a large participation.

Dozens are reported to have approached the fence, unfurling Palestinian flags and throwing rocks and explosives towards Israeli troops.

The soldiers reportedly responded with tear gas and live fire.

Image: Israeli tanks have been seen near the border fence

Image: Israeli artillery guns have lined up near the border with Gaza

The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday: "The rioters are hurling rocks and setting tyres on fire.

"In addition, a number of grenades and explosive devices have been hurled at the Gaza Strip security fence."

Gaza's Hamas rulers pledged to keep the crowds a safe distance from the fence as Egyptian mediators tried to cement a ceasefire agreement.

Dozens of volunteers in fluorescent vests were deployed to restrain demonstrators, and ambulances have lined up in front of clinics as police supervise encampments erected far from the fence.

The protests have come at a sensitive time for Israel and Hamas.

Image: Tear gas canisters have been fired at Palestinian protesters

Image: Israeli forces estimate up to 40,000 Palestinian protesters have assembled on the border

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his fourth consecutive term in the next election on 9 April, but is facing a serious challenge from a group of former army chiefs who have criticised what they say is his failed Gaza policy.

He is likely to want to keep the border quiet in the final stretch of his campaign, without seeming to make concessions to Hamas.

Mr Netanyahu took heavy criticism this week for what was seen as a soft response to renewed rocket fire out of Gaza.

Hamas faces growing unrest in Gaza as a result of worsening conditions after more than a decade of Israeli and Egyptian border closures.

A 12-year blockade has devastated Gaza's economy.

Unemployment is higher than 50%, ground water has become undrinkable and electricity has turned into an intermittent luxury.

Egypt, which has repeatedly tried to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, has stepped up efforts in recent days after a Gaza rocket struck a house in central Israel earlier this week.

Palestinians with knowledge of the talks have said that Gaza protesters were required to keep away from the fence and Israeli troops were to show restraint.

Israel was to offer economic incentives for Gaza in exchange for calm under the Egyptian plan, according to Palestinian officials.

According to a Gaza rights group, 196 Palestinians have been killed in the demonstrations over the past year, including 41 minors, and thousands were wounded by live fire.

One Israeli soldier is reported to have been killed.

Two-thirds of Gaza's two million people are refugees or descendants of refugees who fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948. </s> A Palestinian teenager has died of his wounds a day after being shot by Israeli forces in clashes along the Gaza border, the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry said Saturday.

Azzam Oweida, 15, was hit in the head during protests in southern Gaza on Friday, the ministry said.

His death brought to four the number of people killed or fatally wounded during a fifth consecutive Friday of protests in which thousands of Gazans have gathered near the heavily-guarded border.

Forty-five Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of what organisers have dubbed the Great March of Return on March 30, with more than 1,500 wounded.

The Israeli army said around 10,000 people had taken part in “riots” along the border Friday, saying troops responded with “riot dispersal means”.

The army has accused Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza and has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, of seeking to use the protests as cover to carry out attacks.

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

Israel says that would mean the end of the Jewish state, and accuses Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas of using the protests as a pretext for violence.

The Israeli military said that at one point on Friday protesters had used “explosive devices, hand grenades and firebombs” as they attempted a mass breach of the border fence.

In what the military said was a direct response, Israeli warplanes on Friday night attacked “six military targets belonging to the Hamas terror organisation’s naval force in the Gaza Strip.”

It did not give the location of the targets, but the Hamas interior ministry in Gaza said aircraft — originally reported as drones — hit Gaza’s main port, damaging two boats but causing no injuries.

Eyewitnesses at the port said the two boats were badly damaged. Hamas security forces prevented journalists from reaching the scene.

It is believed to have been the first time Israeli aircraft had targeted boats in Gaza since the 2014 war there between Israel and Hamas.

The protest movement is officially independent but has the backing of Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.

On Friday protesters 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 tear gas and live ammunition.

Three men were shot dead, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while the Gaza Centre for Media Freedom said three journalists were among those wounded.

Demonstrations are expected to spike again ahead of May 14, when the United States plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The decision has infuriated Palestinians, who see the annexed eastern half of the holy city as the capital of their future state.

US President Donald Trump, who tore up decades of policy by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, said Friday he “may go” to the city for the embassy opening.

That came as Amnesty International called for an arms embargo against Israel over its use of live fire in Gaza.

Israel has rejected calls for an independent investigation into deaths along Gaza’s border. The army says its troops only use live ammunition as a last resort.
Israel opens fire again, with the Gaza Health Ministry claiming one Palestinian was killed and 233 injured as protesters torched tyres and Israeli flags.