ISRAEL/GAZA - Violence has broken out on the Israel-Gaza border in a so-called day of tyres called by the Hamas group.

Thousands of Palestinian protestors are burning tyres and demanding Israel end its occupation.

The Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza board has been declared a closed military zone.

There were plumes of smoke that are coming across the border from Gaza where there are reports from the Palestinian Health Ministry that there are 40 people injured.

Initial reports suggest that one person has died from his wounds but that still needs to be independently verified.

The health ministry is also saying that most of the injuries are, as to be expected, to the upper body.

There are reports that the Palestinian protestors have reached two border points in eastern Rafah and east Bregje but it’s not yet clear if they’ve managed to penetrate the border.

The Israeli army is repeatedly saying that they will allow for no protestors to enter Israel. </s> Hundreds of Palestinians have converged on the Gaza Strip’s border fence with Israel, trying to rip through it before drawing heavy Israeli fire in one of the most violent incidents yet in five weeks of protests.

Hundreds of Palestinians have converged on the Gaza Strip’s border fence with Israel, trying to rip through it before drawing heavy Israeli fire in one of the most violent incidents yet in five weeks of protests.

At least 38 protesters have been killed by Israeli live fire and more than 2,100 wounded in the weekly protests since they began on March 30. Israel has rejected the international criticism, saying it is defending its sovereign border and accusing Gaza’s Hamas leaders, who are organising the protests, of using the crowds as cover to carry out attacks.

In Friday’s unrest, a large crowd gathered a few hundred metres from the border, with some throwing stones and setting tyres 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 metres 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 more ran to the scene, and the numbers quickly grew to several thousand. Israeli armoured vehicles sped to the site and fired barrages of tear gas. As gunfire erupted, the crowd dispersed.

It said “hundreds of rioters” tried to burn the fence and enter Israel. It said the crowd threw explosives, firebombs and rocks, and that troops opened fire “in accordance with the rules of engagement” and halted the crowd.

It released a video showing a young Palestinian man placing a burning tyre along the fence in an apparent attempt to set it on fire. In another, a small group lobs stones at an Israeli military vehicle on the other side of the fence. In other incidents, the military said Palestinian crowds rolled burning tyres, hurled rocks and flew kites with flaming objects attached with the goal of damaging the fence and other Israeli targets.

It also released a photo appearing to show a group of youths tugging at barbed wire along the fence. The marches, aimed in part at trying to break a decade-old border blockade, have been organised by Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers but have also been driven by widespread despair in the coastal territory of two million people.

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

Israel has come under heavy international criticism for allegedly using excessive force. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said Israeli troops have not heeded warnings by the UN 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 UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said Israel is “diligently defending its sovereignty” and accused Mr Zeid of encouraging Hamas’s “exploitation of civilians”. </s> Palestinians burn tires at the border fence with Israel, east of Jabalia in the central Gaza city, during a protest on April 13, 2018.

One Palestinian was killed and 233 were wouned by live israeli fire as more than 10,000 protested along the Israel-Gaza border on Friday, burning tires and Israeli flags, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

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According to the Israeli army, protests were held at five different sites along the border.

Haaretz

The Health Ministry in Gaza identified the Palestinian killed in the protest as Asalam Saudi Hasralla, 28. Overall, 969 Palestinians were wounded in Friday's protest, with 233 wounded by live fire and 419 evacuated to the hospital. Of those wounded, 20 were women and 67 were under age 18. Thirteen Palestinians were wounded by rubber-tipped bullets. The ministry noted that the number of protesters was lower than last week.

According to the army, numerous attempts to destroy obstacles erected by the army were made during the day. They also said that a number of attacks were attempted, with explosives and firebombs thrown at the border, as well as gunfire.

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Later on Friday, the Israeli military said that attempts were made to breach and cross the border fence. An explosive charge was thrown in the Karni area, and firebombs were thrown at the border. A kite with a Molotov cocktail was sent towards the Israeli side of the border, but it fell on the side of Gaza, and no one was hurt.

skip - Palestinians: Smoke grenade fired a medical tent, ten medics suffer smoke inhalation

Palestinians: Smoke grenade fired a medical tent, ten medics suffer smoke inhalation - דלג Palestinians: Smoke grenade fired a medical tent, ten medics suffer smoke inhalation

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The army reiterated it is opening fire only according to its protocols and will not allow anyone to harm Israel's "defense infrastructures," calling demonstrators "violent rioters and terrorists."

Palestinians said that a smoke grenade was fired at a medical tent, causing ten medics to suffer from smoke inhalation.

Friday's protests were the third round of mass demonstrations in the Gaza Strip, amid reports in Gaza that some demonstrators were preparing firebombs for what they termed “Molotov Day,” a reference to so-called molotov cocktails. The demonstrations’ organizers, however, denounced that idea, stressing that the protests are meant to be “nonviolent resistance.”

Palestinians take cover from tear gas smoke during clashes with Israeli security forces near border fence with Israel, east of Gaza City in the central Gaza Strip on April 13, 2018. Several thousand G MAHMUD HAMS/AFP

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One organizer told Haaretz that "Israel is trying in every way to pin the marches on Hamas and it's very convenient for them if this action becomes violent on the Palestinian side, and that's why we won't allow it."

He charged that Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas positions over the past week show that Israel is trying to draw the Palestinians, and especially Hamas, into a full-on confrontation.

As this Friday’s theme, organizers plan to have the demonstrators burn Israeli flags and wave Palestinian ones.

The kite with a Molotov cocktail that was meant to fly over the Gaza border on April 13, 2018.

Army braces for violence

Due to both the demonstrations in Gaza and the tension in the north, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has cut short his trip to Poland, where he was participating in the annual March of the Living. He had decided to cut the trip short before he left and even considered not going at all, because of the situation in Syria. Ultimately, however, he decided to go but return a day early.

On the Gazan front, the IDF has used both sticks and carrots over the past week to persuade Hamas to stop the violent attacks that have accompanied the Palestinian demonstrations.

If Hamas doesn’t stop the violence, the army warned, Israel will retaliate by attacking Hamas positions deep inside Gaza. But it also offered an economic carrot in the form of expanding the zone in which Gazan fisherman are allowed to fish – a decision that was hardly self-evident given that just last week, the state indicted a Gaza resident for planning attacks on Israeli naval vessels together with several co-conspirators.

The IDF expects this Friday’s demonstration to attract roughly the same number of people as last Friday’s, but hopes that it will be less violent on both sides. It has stressed that it won’t tolerate continued violent demonstrations in Gaza at a time when tensions are running high in the north.

Overall, almost 1,300 Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers over the past couple of weeks of mass protests on the Gaza-Israel border, according to a computerized count by the Gaza Health Ministry. An additional 1,554 Gazans have been treated for tear gas inhalation or injuries by rubber-coated steel pellets.

In addition, 34 Palestinians have been killed during this period, including 27 in border demonstrations.
Protestors begin burning tyres at the border.