Palestinians clashed with Israel’s military on Friday, throwing Molotov cocktails and planting explosive devices at the fence dividing the Gaza Strip and Israel, as thousands gathered again despite the past two demonstrations turning deadly.
One person was killed and some 700 Gazans were treated for injuries, including 163 from live fire, Palestinian authorities said.
The Israeli army, which responded with gunfire and riot-dispersal means, said about 10,000 Palestinians protested Friday, compared with some 20,000 last week, the army said. About 30,000 demonstrated the Friday before.
The organizers this week didn’t actively encourage Gazans to come out en masse, instead looking to next month when they plan a big march on May 15 for what Palestinians call “Nakba Day,” or “Day of the Catastrophe,” marking the day after the anniversary of Israel’s founding.
The demonstrations have presented Israel with a new military and political challenge as it aims to avoid a mass breach of the fence while also responding to international calls to show restraint and avoid a wider conflict with Gaza rulers Hamas.
Gazan demonstrators are calling for the right to return to their ancestors’ villages and towns in what is now Israel, a demand Israeli officials reject because they say it would put the country’s Jewish majority at risk.
Israel has said the demonstrations are being used by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel, as a pretext to attack Israeli soldiers. Israeli officials have said they have had to use live fire to avoid a fence breach.
Hamas has said demonstrators have a legitimate right to protest. The organizers have said Hamas is involved in running the protests but isn’t leading them. This week they encouraged Gazans to fly Palestinian banners and burn Israeli flags.
The Israeli army said militants on Thursday left a device on the border fence that exploded on a military vehicle, prompting it to mount airstrikes on Hamas targets. One Hamas operative died in the strikes, Hamas-affiliated media reported.
Gaza’s economy is in dire condition and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who governs in the West Bank, has put financial pressure on the strip to encourage Hamas to cede control.
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The protests have also posed a public-relations challenge for Israel. Israeli officials have tried to characterize the demonstrators as members of Hamas and the Islamist movement as a government that exploits its subjects.
But videos posted online that purported to show unarmed protesters being shot have prompted criticism from rights groups of the Israeli army and raised questions about whether the demonstrators are all violent.
The Israeli military this week said it had launched an investigation into a video in which Israeli soldiers are heard cheering as a Palestinian appears to be shot at a demonstration in the Gaza Strip. The military said the video was filmed at a demonstration that took place in December after the White House announced it would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.
The video was widely circulated on social media this week and came as the Israeli military already faced international calls for an investigation into whether it used unlawful force in recent weeks in dealing with Palestinians at the Gaza fence.
In total, Palestinian authorities have said at least 30 people, including a journalist with a flak jacket marked “Press,” have been killed in demonstrations since March 30 and more than 2,500 injured, with roughly 1,000 from gunfire.
Israel faced criticism this week for shooting dead the journalist and later saying the Palestinian was a captain in the Hamas military leadership.
The journalist’s family denied the accusation and said the U.S. Agency for International Development had recently vetted his media company and offered it a grant only last month.
Write to Rory Jones at rory.jones@wsj.com
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