Israel says it will expand response if Gaza clashes go on

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel will target militant groups inside Gaza if violence along the territory's border with Israel drags on, the chief military spokesman warned on Saturday, a day after 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the area's deadliest violence in four years. Protest organizers have said mass marches would continue until May 15, the 70th anniversary of Israel's creation. The protesters were demanding hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948 be allowed to return. He had brought his family to a protest tent camp near Gaza City - one of five set up several hundred meters from the border fence - where he distributed water bottles to women and children sitting on a mat. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised soldiers' actions for "guarding the country's borders," while Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the protests were not a "Woodstock festival". Israel's military has faced questions from rights groups over its use of live fire on Friday, March 30, the bloodiest day in the conflict since a 2014 war, while Palestinians accuse soldiers of firing on protesters posing no threat. Witnesses said hundreds of Palestinians participated in the clashes and the Israeli military said some of those protesters rolled burning tires and threw stones at forces stationed at the border. He alleged Gaza health officials exaggerated the number of those wounded, and that several dozen at most were injured by live fire while the rest were merely shaken up by tear gas and other riot dispersal means. The armed wing of Hamas said five of those killed were its members who were participating “in popular events side-by-side with their people”. It said there were attempts to damage the fence and infiltrate Israel, while alleging there was also an attempted gun attack against soldiers along the border. Manelis reiterated Saturday that Israel “will not allow a massive breach of the fence into Israeli territory.”

He said that Hamas and other Gaza militant groups are using protests as a cover for staging attacks. If violence continues, “we will not be able to continue limiting our activity to the fence area and will act against these terror organizations in other places too,” he said. The planned mass sit-ins on the border are also seen as a new attempt by Hamas to break the border blockade, imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas seized Gaza from forces loyal to its rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in 2007. Friday's high death toll and prospects of daily protests in coming weeks have raised concerns about another escalation along the volatile frontier. At the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres called for an independent investigation, while Security Council members urged restraint on both sides.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accuses Israel of responsibility for the deaths of 16 protestors at the border with Gaza. Israel accuses Palestinian terrorists of using civilians as human shields. A video begins circulating on social media appearing to show an unarmed teenager being shot.