Israel’s military on Saturday defended soldiers who fired on Gazan protesters and said it was ready to respond with force again as demonstrations continued, raising prospects of a fresh conflict with Islamist movement Hamas.
At least 15 Palestinians died and more than 1,000 were injured Friday in clashes with Israeli soldiers, Palestinian authorities said, as tens of thousands of Gazans demonstrated on the Israeli border of the strip. Some protesters turned violent, drawing live fire from Israeli soldiers, the Israeli military said.
By early afternoon on Saturday, Palestinians began to gather again at the border but not in the same numbers as the previous day. The protesters say they were there to peacefully call for the right to return to homes in what is now Israel, which Israel says would threaten its Jewish majority.
Israeli officials on Saturday blamed Gaza rulers Hamas for Friday’s demonstration, saying the group was using civilians to sow violence. The military said militants had used the protest as a pretext to attack the border fence, with at least two Palestinians shooting first before Israeli soldiers returned fire.
“This is just the beginning…Hamas intends to aggravate the situation further,” army spokesman Peter Lerner said on a call with reporters Saturday. “We are not looking for an escalation, but we are prepared.”
The violence has compounded fears of another drawn-out conflict between Israel and Hamas, which have fought three wars in the past decade. An Israeli blockade is causing Gaza’s economy to flat-line, and the Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank, has cut off funding to Hamas.
Israeli military snipers fired live ammunition at protesters, Mr. Lerner said, but the army was skeptical of Palestinian health authority data that 750 Gazans suffered gunshot wounds.
A spokesman for the Palestinian health authority said it stood by its figures.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged an “independent and transparent investigation” into the bloodshed. Israel’s neighbors Jordan and Egypt condemned what they described as the Israeli military’s excessive use of force. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for a day of mourning Saturday.
In a statement, Hamas said Mr. Abbas should restart funding to the strip after Friday’s loss of life. Hamas later Saturday said five of those killed were members of its organization. A spokesman for the group couldn’t be reached for comment on whether the demonstration increased the likelihood of conflict with Israel.
Protest organizers said the event involved Hamas but wasn’t led by the group.
Organizers say they hope the gatherings would last until May 15, when Palestinians commemorate “Nakba Day” or “Day of the Catastrophe,” the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948. They have set up tents, portable toilets and other facilities near the Israeli border to encourage Gazans to stay there and keep protesting.
The protests show how Palestinian insistence on a so-called right of return remains a difficult issue to resolve in any push for peace with Israel.
More than one million Gazan residents are classified as refugees, largely from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, according to the U.N. Israel has said that it won’t allow significant Palestinians to return to Israel.
Write to Rory Jones at rory.jones@wsj.com
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