'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>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>GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli fire killed a Palestinian man near the Gaza border on Saturday, Palestinian Health officials said, as Israel’s forces massed at the frontier ahead of a rally to mark the first anniversary of a surge of Gaza border protests.

The Israeli military said it had not heard of any such incident. Palestinian medics said the man was killed by bullet shrapnel before dawn at a site of frequent night protests near the border.

On Friday night, the Israeli military said Palestinians were throwing explosive devices at the border fence.

Tensions have mounted along the Israel-Gaza border this week ahead of the commemoration of the ‘Great March of Return’ border protests, which began on March 30 last year.

Fighting flared when a Palestinian rocket attack from Gaza wounded seven Israelis in a village north of Tel Aviv on Monday. In response, Israel launched a wave of air strikes and moved armor and reinforcements to the border.

The Israeli forces remained at the border area on Saturday and the military said it was expecting “violent riots” to take place and was prepared for escalation.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians were expected to attend the protests, which have turned deadly in the past, and Egyptian mediators were working to avoid further bloodshed. Leaders of Gazan armed groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said that progress had been made in the truce talks.

About 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the protests started, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures, and an Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper.

The demonstrations have turned into a standoff between Gazans hurling rocks and explosives and Israeli troops across the border. Palestinians have also launched incendiary balloons and kites into Israel and breached the Israeli frontier fence.

Israel’s use of lethal force has drawn censure from the United Nations and rights groups. U.N. investigators said last week that Israeli forces may be guilty of war crimes for using excessive force.

Israel says it has no choice but to use deadly force at the protests to prevent militants from breaching the border fence and attacking civilian communities in the area.

The protesters are calling for the lifting of a security blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt, and for Palestinians to have the right to return to land from which their families fled or were forced to flee during Israel’s founding in 1948.

More than 2 million Palestinians are packed into the narrow coastal enclave where poverty and unemployment rates are high. The Isla mist Hamas group rules the territory and has fought three wars with Israel in the past decade.

The blockade is cited by humanitarian agencies as a key reason for impoverishment in Gaza.

Israel seized Gaza in a 1967 war and pulled out its troops in 2005. The security blockade, it says, is necessary in order to stop weapons from reaching Hamas and other armed groups which have fired thousands of rockets into Israel.</s>It is one year since tens of thousands of Palestinians took part in a Great March of Return to the Gaza-Israel border launching regular mass protests along the border that have drawn a deadly response from the Israeli army

A Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire on the Gaza border early Saturday, the territory's health ministry said, hours ahead of planned mass protests.

The ministry said Mohammed Saad, 20, died after being hit in the head with shrapnel caused by Israeli army fire east of Gaza City.

Protesters at the site said he had been taking part in an overnight rally ahead of the main demonstration scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

They said he was more than 100 metres (yards) from the heavily-fortified border fence when he was hit and had been on crutches due to a previous injury.

Thousands are expected to demonstrate on Saturday afternoon at various points along the Gaza-Israel border, one year after the start of regular mass protests demanding the right of return for Palestinian refugees to homes now in Israel.

At least 259 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests began, the vast majority along the border.

Two Israeli soldiers have also been killed.</s>GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered Saturday at rallying points near the Israeli border to mark the first anniversary of weekly protests in the Gaza Strip.

Troops fired tear gas across the border and the Israeli military said some of the estimated 30,000 demonstrators threw rocks, grenades and burning tires towards them.

Palestinian activists clad in bright orange vests tried to keep people back, though some made it to the fence.

The army said it was responding with "riot dispersal means and firing in accordance with standard operating procedures."

Three Palestinians were killed during the demonstrations and hundreds more were injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Gaza medics said that a Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli fire during the protests and that another Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire before dawn on Saturday near the boundary. The identity of the third person was unclear.

More than 300 people were injured in the protest, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, including at least four people who were in critical condition.

Confrontations have mounted this week ahead of the commemoration of the 'Great March of Return' protests, which began on March 30 2018. A Gaza rocket attack wounded seven Israelis north of Tel Aviv on Monday and, in response, Israel launched a wave of air strikes and ramped up its forces at the border.

The timing of the anniversary rally is sensitive for both sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his fourth consecutive term in April 9 elections, but is facing a serious challenge from a group of ex-army chiefs who have criticized what they say is his failed Gaza policy.

In the final stretch of the campaign, Netanyahu needs to keep the Israel-Gaza frontier quiet, without seeming to make concessions to the Islamic militant Hamas.

Hamas, meanwhile, faces growing unrest in Gaza, as a result of worsening conditions after more than a decade of border closures. The fence protests, which began a year ago, were meant to break the blockade, but haven't delivered major improvements.

Early Saturday, Mohammed Saad, 21, was killed by Israeli army fire east of Gaza City near the perimeter fence, Gaza's Health Ministry said. It said he was hit by shrapnel in the head.

An Israeli army spokesman said about 200 Palestinians "rioted during the night along the fence" and that the army used riot dispersal means against them. He did not elaborate and had no comment about Saad's case.

A Gaza hospital worker, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said Saad was a member of the so-called "night disturbance unit." Such groups routinely burn tires, flash laser lights and detonate explosives near the fence at night to distract soldiers and disturb residents of nearby Israeli communities.

The marches near the fence began a year ago, initially organized by grassroots activists. Hamas quickly took the lead, but a steady large turnout was also driven by widespread despair in Gaza.

The border blockade, imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, has devastated Gaza's economy. Ground water has become undrinkable, electricity has turned into an intermittent luxury and the U.N. has warned Gaza will soon become uninhabitable.

The border marches routinely ended in confrontations, with some of the Palestinian demonstrators burning tires, hurling fire bombs or setting off explosives and Israeli troops firing live rounds and tear gas.

According to a Gaza rights group and a count by The Associated Press, 196 Palestinians were killed in the demonstrations over the past year, including 41 minors, and thousands were wounded by live fire. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the context of the marches.

Egypt has repeatedly tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, stepping up efforts in recent days after a Gaza rocket struck a house in central Israel earlier this week, injuring seven Israelis and threatening renewed escalation.

Palestinians with knowledge of the talks have said that as part of the proposed deal, Gaza protesters were to keep away from the fence Saturday and Israeli troops were to hold their fire.

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

Earlier this month, Hamas quelled what have been portrayed as the fiercest protests yet against its mismanagement and failure to improve the internal economic situation.

Hamas blames the blockade and punitive measures by its West Bank-based rival, the Palestinian Authority, for worsening the living conditions.</s>GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot and wounded seven Palestinians on the Gaza border on Friday, Gaza medical officials said, the day before a mass rally called to mark the first anniversary of weekly protests in which around 200 Palestinians have been killed.

Despite a decision by Gaza protest organisers not to hold a big demonstration on Friday some Palestinians turned out, although in smaller numbers than usual. Humanitarian officials urged restraint for Saturday’s anniversary to avoid any further bloodshed.

The Israeli military said its troops faced around 800 demonstrators along the fortified frontier on Friday and that they had used riot dispersal measures to defend the border.

There were also sporadic clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Palestinian youths threw petrol bombs in Hebron, and 150 demonstrators hurled stones at Israeli troops, who fired back with rubber bullets and tear gas.</s>A Palestinian teenager has been killed by Israeli fire, health officials said, as tens of thousands of protesters gathered near the Israeli border to mark the first anniversary of weekly demos in the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian teenager has been killed by Israeli fire, health officials said, as tens of thousands of protesters gathered near the Israeli border to mark the first anniversary of weekly demos in the Gaza Strip.

Teenager killed as tens of thousands of Gaza protesters join anniversary march

The health ministry said Adham Amara, 17, was hit in the face and died in a protest camp in east Gaza City. Thirteen Palestinians have been wounded by live fire in the protests.

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, while ambulances lined up in front of clinics and police supervised encampments erected far from the fence.

As the crowds swelled throughout the afternoon in response to Hamas’s calls for a large participation, dozens of protesters approached the fence, unfurling Palestinian flags and throwing rocks and explosives towards Israeli troops.

The soldiers responded with tear gas and live fire to disperse the crowds.

The protest came at a sensitive time for Israel and Hamas.

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

In the final stretch of the campaign, he needs to keep the Israel-Gaza frontier quiet, without seeming to make concessions to Hamas.

He 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.

The fence protests, which began exactly a year ago, have been aimed in large part at breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza, but have not delivered major improvements.

The Israeli military estimated 30,000 Palestinians were gathered at the marches.

“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,” it said in a statement.

It added that soldiers were responding with “riot dispersal means” and firing in line with standard procedures.

Gaza health officials said earlier that Israeli troops had shot and killed a Palestinian man near the fence, hours before the rally.

Gaza’s health ministry said Mohammed Saad, 21, was hit by shrapnel in the head.

The army said about 200 Palestinians “rioted during the night along the fence” and that the army used riot dispersal means.

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 near the fence at night to distract soldiers and disturb residents of nearby Israeli communities.

The marches near the fence began a year ago, initially organised by grassroots activists calling for a mass return to their ancestors’ homes in what is now Israel.

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.

Hamas quickly took the lead in the protests, using the gatherings to call for an easing of the blockade.

The blockade, imposed after Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, has devastated Gaza’s economy. Unemployment is over 50%, ground water has become undrinkable and electricity has turned into an intermittent luxury.

The border marches routinely ended in confrontations, with Palestinians burning tyres, hurling fire bombs or setting off explosives and Israeli troops firing live rounds and tear gas.

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

An Israeli soldier was also killed in the context of the marches.</s>GAZA — Thousands of Palestinians gathered on Saturday at rallying points near the Israeli border fence for a mass demonstration to commemorate a year of weekly protests in the Gaza Strip against the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.

Hours before the rally began, the Gaza Health Ministry said a Palestinian man, Mohammed Saad, 21, had been shot and killed by Israeli forces at a protest camp near the perimeter fence.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

The Palestinians’ rally was to cap a year of demonstrations against the blockade imposed after Hamas took control of the territory in 2007.

Dozens of volunteers in fluorescent vests were deployed to restrain demonstrators from getting too close to the border fence.</s>Tens of thousands of Gazans gathered at the Israeli border Sunday to mark a year since protests and clashes erupted there, but fears of mass bloodshed were averted after late Egyptian-led negotiations.

Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, one during an overnight demonstration and three 17-year-olds in clashes later Saturday, the health ministry in Gaza City said. Another 316 Gazans were wounded.

But fears of a repeat of similar protests and clashes to those that saw more than 60 Palestinians killed on May 14, when the United States transferred its Israel embassy to Jerusalem, did not materialise.

Israel deployed several thousand troops along the border, with the anniversary coming at a sensitive time ahead of its April 9 elections.

Egypt tried to mediate between Israel and Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas to rein in violence.

Hamas officials say an understanding was reached that would see Israel ease its crippling blockade of Gaza in exchange for the protests remaining calm.

Tens of thousands gathered at five protest points along the frontier on Saturday, but the vast majority stayed away from the border fence.

East of Gaza City, small groups of young men approached the fence and sought to break it multiple times but were forced back by Israeli tear gas and live fire.

The protesters threw stones at the Israeli soldiers. An Egyptian security delegation visited the protest site east of Gaza City, as did Hamas leaders Ismail Haniya and Yahya Sinwar.

Israel's army said around 40,000 "rioters and demonstrators" had gathered in spots throughout the border.</s>GAZA (Reuters) - Thousands of Palestinians rallied at the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of a surge of protests, facing off against Israeli forces massed across the frontier.

Troops fired tear gas across the border and the Israeli military said some of the estimated 20,000 demonstrators threw rocks, grenades and burning tyres towards them.

Palestinian activists clad in bright orange vests tried to keep people back, though some made it to the fence.

Gaza medics said that one Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire before dawn on Saturday near the boundary. The Israeli military said it had no knowledge of the death and that Palestinians were throwing explosive devices at the border fence through Friday night.

Confrontatins have mounted this week ahead of the commemoration of the ‘Great March of Return’ protests, which began on March 30 2018. A Gaza rocket attack wounded seven Israelis north of Tel Aviv on Monday and, in response, Israel launched a wave of air strikes and ramped up its forces at the border.

The protests have turned deadly in the past and Egyptian mediators were working to avoid further bloodshed and ease israeli restrictions on Gaza. Leaders of Gazan armed groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said that progress had been made in the truce talks.

Security has been a prominent issue in the build-up to Israeli elections due on April and, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of Gaza will be a key issue as he seeks a fifth term in office.

The protests call for the lifting of a security blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt, and for Palestinians to have the right to return to land from which their families fled or were forced to flee during Israel’s founding in 1948. Israel rejects that demand saying that would eliminate its Jewish majority.

March 30 also marks “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.

Loudspeakers on the Gaza side of the border blasted national songs and medical field units were set up in case of injuries as Gazans flowed to the various protest sites under heavy rain.

“In a year I will finish school, my father is unemployed so I will be unable to go to university, who is responsible? Israel,” said 16-year-old Mohammed Ali. “I don’t know how many years will pass before our lives improve but we should continue (protests) as long as the occupation and the blockade exist.”

More than 2 million Palestinians are packed into the Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal enclave where poverty and unemployment rates are high. The Islamist Hamas group rules the territory and has fought three wars with Israel in the past decade.

The blockade is cited by humanitarian agencies as a key reason for impoverishment in Gaza.

Israel seized Gaza in a 1967 war and pulled out its troops in 2005. The security blockade, it says, is necessary in order to stop weapons from reaching Hamas and other armed groups which have fired thousands of rockets into Israel.

The border protests have turned into a standoff between Gazans hurling rocks and explosives and Israeli troops across the border. Palestinians have also launched incendiary balloons and kites into Israel and breached the Israeli frontier fence.

About 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the protests started, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures, and an Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper.

Israel’s use of lethal force has drawn censure from the United Nations and rights groups. U.N. investigators said last week that Israeli forces may be guilty of war crimes for using excessive force.

Israel says it has no choice but to use deadly force at the protests to prevent militants from breaching the border fence and attacking civilian communities in the area.
On the one year anniversary of the Gaza border protests, tens of thousands of Palestinians gather on the border to commemorate the weekly gatherings. Four Palestinian protesters have been killed and more than 300 wounded according to Palestinian health officials.