Deadly violence erupts again in Gaza at Israeli border fence

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds of Palestinians converged on the Gaza Strip's border fence with Israel on Friday, trying to burn and rip through it before drawing heavy Israeli fire in one of the most violent incidents yet in five weeks of protests. Three Palestinians were killed and dozens were reported wounded.

The Israeli military accused Gaza's Hamas leaders of orchestrating what it called a "serious and irregular" attack and said it would not tolerate similar activity in the future.

The violence came shortly after a top U.N. official urged Israel to refrain from using excessive force against the protesters.

At least 38 protesters have been killed by Israeli live fire and more than 1,600 wounded in the weekly protests since they began March 30. Israel has rejected the international criticism, saying it is defending its sovereign border and accusing Gaza's Hamas leaders, who are organizing the protests, of using the crowds as cover to carry out attacks.

In Friday's unrest, a large crowd gathered a few hundred meters (yards) from the border, with some throwing stones and setting tires on fire in what has become a weekly occurrence.

Late in the afternoon, dozens of young men broke away from the larger protest, moving south about 200 meters (yards) and approaching the fence. The crowd then tried to break through the fence with hooks and wire cutters when Israeli forces opened fire. Witnesses said three protesters briefly crossed into Israel and turned around.

Hundreds of additional protesters ran to the scene, and Israeli armored vehicles sped to the site and fired barrages of tear gas. As gunfire erupted, the crowd dispersed. A dozen Palestinian ambulances jammed a dirt road lining up to evacuate the wounded. Some in the crowd shouted "shahid," or "martyr" as bodies were taken away on stretchers.

Palestinian health officials reported three people killed and 611 wounded, including 138 hit by live fire in incidents along the border throughout the day.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it had "thwarted" an attempted infiltration by Palestinian protesters and opened fire "in accordance with the rules of engagement" to halt the crowd. It released a video showing a young Palestinian man placing a burning tire along the fence in an apparent attempt to set it on fire.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the event was unlike anything Israel has seen over the past month. He said an estimated 500 to 700 protesters carried out a "deliberate attack" on the fence, throwing firebombs and explosives, trying to set it on fire with burning tires and attempting to tear it down with a metal hook and winch system.

He said the incident was notable in the number of protesters, the speed they moved and the "audacity with which they attacked." He claimed Hamas leaders had been in the area encouraging the crowd.

"We saw a totally irregular event and severe attack, which was clearly orchestrated by Hamas leaders on the ground who were urging the rioters on, and to run toward the fence, to assault the fence," he said. He said Israel would not tolerate Hamas attempts "to use civilians as human shields and as a disguise for terrorists trying to infiltrate into Israel."

The marches, aimed in part at trying to break a decade-old border blockade, have been organized by Gaza's militant Hamas rulers but have also been driven by widespread despair in the coastal territory of 2 million people.

Gaza organizers say the marches are also pressing for the "right of return" of refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel. Two-thirds of Gaza residents are descendants of refugees who fled or were expelled from properties during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948. The protests are to culminate on May 15, the anniversary of Israel's creation.

Hamas said late Friday that Israeli aircraft hit two boats at Gaza's port. Witnesses said the explosions severely damaged the boats.

The boats were being prepared to sail beyond the six-nautical-mile limit set by Israel in protest of the maritime restrictions on Gaza, a Hamas activist familiar with the issue said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the venture had not yet been announced.

The boats were to sail May 15 as part of the mass protests.

Hamas organizers have made conflicting statements about whether they plan a mass border breach at some point.

Hamas' supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, visited a protest camp in the southern town of Rafah, vowing larger protests in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and among Palestinian refugees in other countries on May 15. "Our people will not slow down the protests until they get their rights," he said.

The Israeli military has repeatedly said it will not allow Gazans to burst across the border. Israeli communities are located just a few hundred meters (yards) away.

However, Israel has come under heavy international criticism for allegedly using excessive force.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said Israeli troops have not heeded warnings by the United Nations and others, repeatedly using lethal force against unarmed protesters in the past month.

Gaza health officials say that four minors, including a 14-year-old boy, have been among the dead.

"The loss of life is deplorable, and the staggering number of injuries caused by live ammunition only confirms the sense that excessive force has been used against demonstrators — not once, not twice, but repeatedly," the commissioner said.

Israel's U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, said Israel is "diligently defending its sovereignty" and accused Zeid of encouraging Hamas' "exploitation of civilians." He said the commissioner is "not focused on human rights, but only with obsessively criticizing Israel."

Thousands have taken part in the Friday demonstrations from five protest tent camps, each set up several hundred meters (yards) from the border fence. Small groups usually move toward the fence, setting tires ablaze to hamper the vision of the security forces while others throw stones or firebombs.

Israeli soldiers, including snipers taking cover behind sand berms, have responded by firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and live rounds.

Israel's military has said troops are under orders to target "instigators," but has also warned that anyone approaching or trying to damage the fence risks his life.

Rights groups have said such open-fire rules are unlawful because they allow soldiers to use potentially lethal force in situations where their lives are not in danger.

Israeli officials have said that some of the protesters in recent weeks tried to damage the border fence or plant explosives along it. Others have tried to set Israeli fields on fire on the other side of the fence by hurling improvised explosives or firebombs, or flying the flaming kites.

A group of Palestinian activists calling themselves "the tires unit" arrived Friday on a truck laden with old tires. A van mounted with loudspeakers followed the truck with chants and applause. Tires were set ablaze, filling the air with thick smoke. With hooks and a long rope, the activists pulled at parts of the barbed wire adjacent to the fence.

Israel and Egypt imposed the Gaza blockade in 2007, in response to a violent takeover of the territory by Hamas, which had won Palestinian parliament elections a year earlier. The blockade has gutted Gaza's economy.

Hamas' Interior Ministry announced that Egypt had agreed to open the Rafah border crossing for three days, beginning Saturday. The temporary opening is the second this month.

This version corrects the number of wounded since March 30 to more than 1,600.</s>GAZA - A 15-year-old Palestinian youth died on Saturday after being shot the previous day by Israeli troops during protests along the Gaza border, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

 

 Israeli forces have killed 42 Palestinians since Gaza residents began staging protests along the border fence on March 30. The demonstrators are pressing for a right of return for refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel. 

 

 The Palestinians say Israel is using excessive force against the protesters, 2,000 of whom have been wounded by gunfire. 

 

 Israel's use of live fire has drawn international criticism.

 

 Israel says it is protecting its borders and takes such action only when protesters, some hurling stones and rolling burning tires, come too close to the border fence.

 

 The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein on Friday called the loss of life deplorable and said a "staggering number" of injuries had been caused by live ammunition.

 

 The Gaza Health Ministry said apart from the Palestinian teenager, three other Palestinians were killed on Friday and 200 wounded by gunfire. The Israeli military said about 14,000 Gazans had been participating in what it described as "riots," and that some had tried to breach the frontier.

 

 Gaza is run by the Islamist Hamas movement, which Israel and the West designate a terrorist organization. Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the enclave in 2005 but, citing security concerns, maintains tight control over its land and sea borders. Egypt also restricts movement in and out of Gaza.

 

 More than 2 million people are packed into the narrow coastal enclave, where poverty and unemployment rates are high. The protests come at a time of growing frustration for Palestinians as prospects for an independent state look poor. 

 

 U.S.-led peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014. Efforts by the Trump administration to revive negotiations have shown no sign of progress. 

 

 Dubbed the "Great March of Return", the protest action is to continue until May 15 when, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says, the Gaza demonstrations will be replicated elsewhere along Israel's frontiers.

 

 May 15 is the date the Palestinians mark as the "Naqba", or "Catastrophe", when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes during violence in the 1948-49 war between the newly-created state of Israel and its Arab neighbours.

 

 Israel refuses any right of return, fearing that the country would lose its Jewish majority.</s>Deadly violence erupts again in Gaza at Israeli border fence

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds of Palestinians converged on the Gaza Strip's border fence with Israel on Friday, trying to burn and rip through it before drawing heavy Israeli fire in one of the most violent incidents yet in five weeks of protests. Three Palestinians were killed and dozens were reported wounded.

The Israeli military accused Gaza's Hamas leaders of orchestrating what it called a "serious and irregular" attack and said it would not tolerate similar activity in the future.

The violence came shortly after a top U.N. official urged Israel to refrain from using excessive force against the protesters.

At least 38 protesters have been killed by Israeli live fire and more than 1,600 wounded in the weekly protests since they began March 30. Israel has rejected the international criticism, saying it is defending its sovereign border and accusing Gaza's Hamas leaders, who are organizing the protests, of using the crowds as cover to carry out attacks.

In Friday's unrest, a large crowd gathered a few hundred meters (yards) from the border, with some throwing stones and setting tires on fire in what has become a weekly occurrence.

Late in the afternoon, dozens of young men broke away from the larger protest, moving south about 200 meters (yards) and approaching the fence. The crowd then tried to break through the fence with hooks and wire cutters when Israeli forces opened fire. Witnesses said three protesters briefly crossed into Israel and turned around.

Hundreds of additional protesters ran to the scene, and Israeli armored vehicles sped to the site and fired barrages of tear gas. As gunfire erupted, the crowd dispersed. A dozen Palestinian ambulances jammed a dirt road lining up to evacuate the wounded. Some in the crowd shouted "shahid," or "martyr" as bodies were taken away on stretchers.

Palestinian health officials reported three people killed and 611 wounded, including 138 hit by live fire in incidents along the border throughout the day.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it had "thwarted" an attempted infiltration by Palestinian protesters and opened fire "in accordance with the rules of engagement" to halt the crowd. It released a video showing a young Palestinian man placing a burning tire along the fence in an apparent attempt to set it on fire.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the event was unlike anything Israel has seen over the past month. He said an estimated 500 to 700 protesters carried out a "deliberate attack" on the fence, throwing firebombs and explosives, trying to set it on fire with burning tires and attempting to tear it down with a metal hook and winch system.

He said the incident was notable in the number of protesters, the speed they moved and the "audacity with which they attacked." He claimed Hamas leaders had been in the area encouraging the crowd.

"We saw a totally irregular event and severe attack, which was clearly orchestrated by Hamas leaders on the ground who were urging the rioters on, and to run toward the fence, to assault the fence," he said. He said Israel would not tolerate Hamas attempts "to use civilians as human shields and as a disguise for terrorists trying to infiltrate into Israel."

The marches, aimed in part at trying to break a decade-old border blockade, have been organized by Gaza's militant Hamas rulers but have also been driven by widespread despair in the coastal territory of 2 million people.

Gaza organizers say the marches are also pressing for the "right of return" of refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel. Two-thirds of Gaza residents are descendants of refugees who fled or were expelled from properties during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948. The protests are to culminate on May 15, the anniversary of Israel's creation.

Hamas said late Friday that Israeli aircraft hit two boats at Gaza's port. Witnesses said the explosions severely damaged the boats.

The boats were being prepared to sail beyond the six-nautical-mile limit set by Israel in protest of the maritime restrictions on Gaza, a Hamas activist familiar with the issue said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the venture had not yet been announced.

The boats were to sail May 15 as part of the mass protests.

Hamas organizers have made conflicting statements about whether they plan a mass border breach at some point.

Hamas' supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, visited a protest camp in the southern town of Rafah, vowing larger protests in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and among Palestinian refugees in other countries on May 15. "Our people will not slow down the protests until they get their rights," he said.

The Israeli military has repeatedly said it will not allow Gazans to burst across the border. Israeli communities are located just a few hundred meters (yards) away.

However, Israel has come under heavy international criticism for allegedly using excessive force.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said Israeli troops have not heeded warnings by the United Nations and others, repeatedly using lethal force against unarmed protesters in the past month.

Gaza health officials say that four minors, including a 14-year-old boy, have been among the dead.

"The loss of life is deplorable, and the staggering number of injuries caused by live ammunition only confirms the sense that excessive force has been used against demonstrators — not once, not twice, but repeatedly," the commissioner said.

Israel's U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, said Israel is "diligently defending its sovereignty" and accused Zeid of encouraging Hamas' "exploitation of civilians." He said the commissioner is "not focused on human rights, but only with obsessively criticizing Israel."

Thousands have taken part in the Friday demonstrations from five protest tent camps, each set up several hundred meters (yards) from the border fence. Small groups usually move toward the fence, setting tires ablaze to hamper the vision of the security forces while others throw stones or firebombs.

Israeli soldiers, including snipers taking cover behind sand berms, have responded by firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and live rounds.

Israel's military has said troops are under orders to target "instigators," but has also warned that anyone approaching or trying to damage the fence risks his life.

Rights groups have said such open-fire rules are unlawful because they allow soldiers to use potentially lethal force in situations where their lives are not in danger.

Israeli officials have said that some of the protesters in recent weeks tried to damage the border fence or plant explosives along it. Others have tried to set Israeli fields on fire on the other side of the fence by hurling improvised explosives or firebombs, or flying the flaming kites.

A group of Palestinian activists calling themselves "the tires unit" arrived Friday on a truck laden with old tires. A van mounted with loudspeakers followed the truck with chants and applause. Tires were set ablaze, filling the air with thick smoke. With hooks and a long rope, the activists pulled at parts of the barbed wire adjacent to the fence.

Israel and Egypt imposed the Gaza blockade in 2007, in response to a violent takeover of the territory by Hamas, which had won Palestinian parliament elections a year earlier. The blockade has gutted Gaza's economy.

Hamas' Interior Ministry announced that Egypt had agreed to open the Rafah border crossing for three days, beginning Saturday. The temporary opening is the second this month.

This version corrects the number of wounded since March 30 to more than 1,600.</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.

Most protesters were peaceful but some threw stones and burned tyres.

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.

No Israelis have been reported hurt.

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.

The protesters are calling for Palestinians to be allowed back to their historic homelands seized by Israel in 1948.</s>Palestinian demonstrators throw stones at Israeli soldiers near the fence during a protest on the Gaza Strip border with Israel.

Palestinian demonstrators throw stones at Israeli soldiers near the fence during a protest on the Gaza Strip border with Israel.

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 today.

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.

Most protesters were peaceful but some threw stones and burned tyres.

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

No Israelis have been reported hurt.

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.

Relatives of Palestinian Azzam Hilal Uvayda, 15, who died at a hospital after he injured by Israel forces during border demonstrations. Source: Getty Images

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 14 May, 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 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.</s>The legislative body of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is set to discuss suspending the recognition of Israel, in addition to several other critical issues of Palestinian politics.

For the first time in nine years, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) is scheduled to convene in Ramallah on Monday, in a meeting that has Palestinians split between supporters and opponents of the gathering.

Critics of President Mahmoud Abbas have rejected the PNC meeting as a shrewd political manoeuvre, while others see it as a potential turning point in Palestinian politics.

The PNC is expected to vote in a new 18-member Executive Committee of the PLO, the governing body of the organisation, and discuss transforming the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank, into a state with its own institutions and monetary system.

Dominant Palestinian faction, Fatah decided to push ahead with convening the PNC, despite the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) boycotting the meeting.

Hamas is not invited to the council meeting, even as the topic of Palestinian reconciliation is high on the PNC agenda.

"This meeting is vital to continue the Palestinian efforts to end divisions and fragmentation between Palestinian factions," said Wasel Abu Yousef, a current observer-member of the PLO Executive Committee, and head of one of the smaller Palestinian factions, the Palestine Liberation Front.

"[The PNC will] elect new executive bodies that will push forward, in support of Palestinian national rights," Yousef added.

PLO's Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat told Al Jazeera that "this meeting is a turning point for the Palestinians in this critical junction."

Explaining why the PNC needed to convene after being dormant for years, Erekat told Lebanese media that "successive Israeli governments were never interested in two states - Israel and Palestine living side by side".

"Rather, what they wanted all along was one state - Israel - with two systems; an apartheid state," Erekat told Beirut-based Al Mayadeed TV.

Mohammad Shtayyeh, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, told Al Jazeera that "the reason behind electing a new PLO Executive Committee is to ensure the legal framework and continuity of representation of the Palestinian people."

The PNC's agenda will also discuss the United State's positions on Israel - especially the US' recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital - and ways to deal with the measures.

"No Palestinian will accept dealing with the United States so long as it insists on its positions on Jerusalem and being against the rights of Palestinian refugees to return home," Erekat said.

Palestinians have consistently demanded that the Arab eastern side of the holy city be recognised as their future capital.

Israel occupied the east side of Jerusalem during the 1967 war, along with the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. In 1980, Israel annexed East Jerusalem, in contravention of international laws regarding land occupied during wars.

The PNC meeting will also discuss calls to suspend PLO recognition of Israel, cut all ties and agreements with it, and discuss resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestine in peaceful means.

In addition, the PNC will discuss is the transformation of the Palestinian Authority from an authority based on the Oslo agreements to a formal state in the occupied territories.

It is also expected to discuss Palestinian reconciliation efforts to end the division between Fatah and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.

Critics, however, argue that Abbas' insistence to convene the PNC is motivated by ensuring his legacy and preserving the interests of his Fatah faction.

They fear that once Abbas, 82, guarantees the formation of a loyalist PNC and PLO executive body, he would then work to guarantee the continuity of his vision after he leaves the scene.

Maher Obeid, a senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera that Abbas did not want Hamas to participate unless it surrenders to its conditions and gives up its armed resistance to Israeli occupation.

"Abbas wants to exact revenge on Hamas for his own personal reasons," Obeid said.

Hamas issued a statement rejecting the "convening of the Council under the bayonets of the occupation".

After declining the invite, the PFLP, one of the main factions of the PLO, said that the PNC should only be convening to unite the Palestinian factions.

Palestinian activist Wael Malalha, who lives in Amman, said the upcoming PNC session in Ramallah is aimed at imposing Abbas' views on the future of the Palestinian national movement.

"Abbas has one specific vision and one agenda; self-preservation," he said. "The US, Israel and their Arab allies are mounting great pressure on the Palestinians to accept the so-called 'deal of the century'," said Malalha.

"Abbas wants to accept this deal and wants the PNC and the Executive Committee to give him the political cover to accept it," he added.

According to regional press reports, the "deal of the century" is a purported agreement between the US, Israel and Arab allies Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, to end the two-state solution and divide or share sovereignty over the Palestinian population in the occupied territories between Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Several Palestinian organisations and independent figures have called on Abbas and Fatah to cancel this meeting because it would cement Palestinian divisions and fragmentation.

Is the PNC still relevant?

First convened in Jerusalem in 1964, the PNC now counts 723 members. After the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, the PNC came to be considered as the de facto Palestinian parliament, with many of its members living in exile.

The idea for it was to represent Palestinians around the world, their political parties, and their trade and professional syndicates.

The last ordinary session of the PNC was held in Gaza in 1996, when Yasser Arafat was the chairman of the PLO and recently appointed president of the Palestinian Authority.

In that session, the parts of the PLO Charter that denied Israel's right to exist were nullified.

In 2009, Abbas convened an extraordinary session of the PNC in Ramallah.

According to the Palestinian national charter, the PNC is the highest Palestinian governing body, and its members are supposed to be elected to represent Palestinian communities from around the world in the countries where voting for PNC membership is possible.

However, after signing the Oslo peace agreement between the PLO and Israel in 1993, which resulted in the formation of a local Palestinian Authority and Legislative Council, the PLO and PNC were left on the margins.</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.</s>GAZA - A 15-year-old Palestinian youth died on Saturday after being shot the previous day by Israeli troops during protests along the Gaza border, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

 

 Israeli forces have killed 42 Palestinians since Gaza residents began staging protests along the border fence on March 30. The demonstrators are pressing for a right of return for refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel. 

 

 The Palestinians say Israel is using excessive force against the protesters, 2,000 of whom have been wounded by gunfire. 

 

 Israel's use of live fire has drawn international criticism.

 

 Israel says it is protecting its borders and takes such action only when protesters, some hurling stones and rolling burning tires, come too close to the border fence.

 

 The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein on Friday called the loss of life deplorable and said a "staggering number" of injuries had been caused by live ammunition.

 

 The Gaza Health Ministry said apart from the Palestinian teenager, three other Palestinians were killed on Friday and 200 wounded by gunfire. The Israeli military said about 14,000 Gazans had been participating in what it described as "riots," and that some had tried to breach the frontier.

 

 Gaza is run by the Islamist Hamas movement, which Israel and the West designate a terrorist organization. Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the enclave in 2005 but, citing security concerns, maintains tight control over its land and sea borders. Egypt also restricts movement in and out of Gaza.

 

 More than 2 million people are packed into the narrow coastal enclave, where poverty and unemployment rates are high. The protests come at a time of growing frustration for Palestinians as prospects for an independent state look poor. 

 

 U.S.-led peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014. Efforts by the Trump administration to revive negotiations have shown no sign of progress. 

 

 Dubbed the "Great March of Return", the protest action is to continue until May 15 when, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says, the Gaza demonstrations will be replicated elsewhere along Israel's frontiers.

 

 May 15 is the date the Palestinians mark as the "Naqba", or "Catastrophe", when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes during violence in the 1948-49 war between the newly-created state of Israel and its Arab neighbours.

 

 Israel refuses any right of return, fearing that the country would lose its Jewish majority.</s>Israeli Defense Forces arrested a Palestinian man early on Sunday morning for attempting to sabotage security measures along the Gaza border fence, at the Karni Crossing.

The man, who the military says is a member of Hamas, was transferred for investigation by security forces.

skip - Israeli army footage of Palestinian suspect trying to sabotage Gaza border crossing

Israeli army footage of Palestinian suspect trying to sabotage Gaza border crossing - דלג Israeli army footage of Palestinian suspect trying to sabotage Gaza border crossing IDF Spokesperson's Unit

A video distributed by the Israeli army shows thermal imaging of a man climbing the fence and tampering with what appears to be a security camera. The video included a caption reading: "During operational activity, IDF identified a terrorist belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization as he hampers security measures in the Karni Crossing under the cover of the mist."

"This is part of the initiative led by the terrorist organization Hamas to apply a civilian guise for its terrorist efforts and turn the fence perimeter into a war zone," a statement by the military 1said.

On Friday, following the protests along the border, Palestinian media reported four were wounded in Israeli bombings across the Gaza Strip. IDF spokesperson released a statement shortly after the reports, confirming the airstrike, saying it was in response to the "terrorist actions and extensive attempts to breach Israeli territory earlier today."

The Gaza Health Ministry did not report of any wounded Friday overnight following the airstrikes.

Earlier Friday, three Palestinians were killed and at least 833 Palestinians were wounded as thousands particiapted in the "March of Return" along the Israel-Gaza border for the fifth week in a row, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

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Of the wounded, at least 174 of which by live Israeli fire, four were medical staff and six were journalists, reported the ministry. Two of the wounded are said to be in critical condition, six in very serious condition and 234 in moderate condition.

According to the IDF, hundreds of Palestinians rushed the border in central Gaza near the Karni Crossing. Several were wounded by Israeli fire in response.

The army added that more than 10,000 Palestinians participated in Friday's events, saying "attempts have been made to harm security infrastructure, roll burning tires, hurl rocks and fly kites with flaming objects attached to them."</s>Thousands of Palestinian protesters returned to points along the Gaza Strip's border with Israel for a fifth consecutive Friday of demonstrations dubbed the Great March of Return.

Demonstrators 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 hundreds metres from the border, with Israeli soldiers occasionally firing at them.

Fifty people were injured by gunfire or teargas inhalation, Gaza's health ministry said.

A 22-year-old freelance photographer was among those shot, the ministry said.

Forty-one Palestinians have been killed since the demonstrations began on March 30, with hundreds more injured.

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

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

Demonstrations are expected to spike again in the lead up to May 14, when the United States is expected 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.

Israel has rejected calls for an independent inquiry into the deaths along Gaza's border, with the army saying its troops only use live ammunition as a last resort.
The Israel Defense Forces arrest a suspected Hamas member caught tampering with equipment at the Karni Crossing on the Israeli-Gazan border.