The UN human rights office said Friday that it has indications that Israeli forces used "excessive force" against protesters last week, when 15 Palestinians were killed or later died of wounds sustained near the border. "If there are provocations, there will be a reaction of the harshest kind like last week," Lieberman tells public radio.The UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, calls for peaceful demonstrations and restraint by Israeli forces.On April 6, a week since the violence broke out, thousands of Palestinians gather again near the security barrier.They burn mounds of tyres and throw stones at Israeli soldiers over the border fence.The security forces respond with tear gas and live fire, that leaves at least nine people dead, including journalist Yasser Murtaja.Some 500 people are reported injured by Israeli gunfire including five other journalists.Kuwait again makes a push at the UN for a statement demanding an investigation into the killings but the US says it is opposed.Israel's army insists its troops opened fire "in accordance with the rules of engagement". Photograph: Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images

In a statement, the Israeli military underlined its determination to prevent any protesters approaching close to the fence. Guterres issued a statement from the UN saying: “I particularly urge Israel to exercise extreme caution with the use of force in order to avoid casualties. For a second week in a row, the United States blocked a UN Security Council statement supporting the right of Palestinians to demonstrate peacefully and endorsing Guterres' call for an independent investigation into the deadly protests in Gaza. Fares Akram and Mohammed Daraghmeh, The Associated Press 

 



KHUZA'A, Palestinian Territory -- Thousands of Palestinians protested along Gaza's sealed border with Israel on Friday, engulfing the volatile area in black smoke from burning tires to try to block the view of Israeli snipers and cheering a Hamas strongman who pledged that the border fence will eventually fall. Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour put the death toll for Friday's protest at nine; the discrepancy between that figure and the death toll provided by the Gaza Health Ministry could not immediately be explained. Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem launched a campaign called "Sorry Commander, I cannot shoot" urging Israeli soldiers to refuse to shoot protesters. The Islamic militant group Hamas which rules Gaza says the protests are aimed at highlighting Israel’s crippling blockade on the coastal territory as well as the so-called “right of return”: the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their former homes in Israel. Here is a rundown of the unrest:On March 30, tens of thousands of Palestinians including women and children gather at sites throughout the blockaded Gaza Strip, which is flanked by Israel along its eastern and northern borders.They are taking part in "The Great March of Return" which calls for the "right to return" of the descendants of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their lands during the war over Israel's creation in 1948.A smaller number stray from the main protest and approach the heavily fortified border fence, confronting Israeli troops by throwing stones and firebombs.Israeli soldiers open fire, killing 19 Palestinians in what is the bloodiest single day in Gaza since 2014.The next day, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas declares a day of national mourning and says he holds Israel fully responsible for the deaths.Palestinians and Turkey accuse Israel of using "disproportionate force". We shall not cooperate with any commission of inquiry," he tells public radio.The defence minister warns on April 3 that protesters who approach the fence between Gaza and Israel will put "their life in danger".There is the first death since the 19 were killed, that of a Palestinian shot in the chest by Israeli forces.On April 5, another Palestinian is killed, this time in an Israeli air strike, the health ministry says.US President Donald Trump's envoy Jason Greenblatt puts the onus for the violence squarely on the Palestinians.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warns Israel to use "extreme caution" as further protests are held at the Gazan border. Israeli Defence Forces open fire again, killing at least seven Palestinians.