Thousands of Palestinians arrived at tented camps near the frontier as a protest dubbed “The Great March of Return” - evoking a longtime call for refugees to regain ancestral homes in what is now Israel - moved into its third week. “The Israeli authorities must put an immediate end to the excessive and lethal force being used to suppress Palestinian demonstrations in Gaza,” Amnesty International said Friday. An Israeli military spokesman said troops were being confronted by rioters and “responding with riot dispersal means while also firing in accordance with the rules of engagement.”

On Friday, groups of youths waved Palestinian flags and burnt hundreds of tires and Israeli flags near the fenced-off border after Friday prayers. At one camp east of Gaza City, youths carried on their shoulders a coffin wrapped in an Israeli flag bearing the words “The End of Israel.”

Israel has declared a no-go zone close to the Gaza border fence, and deployed army sharpshooters along it. "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 protests since March 30 have posed a challenge to Israel, which has dismissed criticism of its use of live fire, saying its rules of engagement are necessary and will not change. Gaza leaders have planned the so-called Marches of Return to culminate in a million-strong march in mid-May, coinciding with Israel’s 70th Independence Day, the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, and Nakba Day — when the Palestinians mark what they call the “catastrophe” that befell them with Israel’s creation. The Israeli government accuses Hamas, the Islamist movement that has ruled Gaza largely since Israeli soldiers and settlers withdrew in 2005, of having instigated the protests and of using them as cover to launch attacks. Your country would do the same,” an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said on Twitter.
An explosion near the Israel–Gaza border fence kills at least four Palestinians. Hamas says terrorists from Islamic Jihad were killed. Locals claim the explosion was from the Israeli Defence Forces shelling Hamas. Israel denies any involvement.