Hundreds of Palestinians began protesting early Friday at the fence dividing the Gaza Strip and Israel, forging ahead with a repeat of a major demonstration last week that turned deadly.
Gazans in the morning started to burn thousands of car tires to create smoke to blind the Israeli military, which last Friday fired on Palestinians whom it said attacked the border fence. At least 19 Palestinians died and scores more were injured.
Israel expects Palestinians to again throw stones and Molotov cocktails. The military has warned it will use live fire to avoid a breach of the fence that would threaten Israeli lives.
Ahead of the demonstration, the United Nations said Israeli forces should show “maximum restraint” and called on organizers not to put women and children in danger.
White House representative to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, urged protesters to march peacefully, abstain from violence and not approach the fence.
Palestinian 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 risk the country’s Jewish majority.
Organizers have said the demonstrations will continue until May 15, known among Palestinians as “Nakba Day” or “Day of the Catastrophe,” the day after the date of Israel’s 1948 founding.
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza and is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel, is using the weekslong demonstration as a pretext to attack Israelis and divert attention from the group’s poor governance of the strip.
Gaza’s economy is flatlining and a dispute between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is exacerbating tensions.
At the border Friday morning, retired policeman Khames al-Zaem said Palestinians were “fed up” with an Israeli blockade of Gaza and no prospects for a peace agreement after 70 years of conflict.
“To die a martyr is much better than dying in hospital bed,” said Mr. al-Zaem, 67. “It can’t be worse.”
Palestinian health authorities have said at least 19 people were killed in last week’s demonstration and more than 1,400 injured, including 750 with live fire.
Israel controls access and goods entering the strip to stop Hamas from arming to attack Israelis. Egypt also shares a border with Gaza and only infrequently opens the crossing from the strip into Egyptian territory.
Army officials have disputed the number of injuries reported by Gazan authorities and questioned the authenticity of videos posted online that purported to show unarmed protesters being shot.
The military said it used rubber bullets and tear gas, and only fired regular ammunition against militant attacks during the demonstrations. The military said 10 of those killed last week were operatives of Hamas and other militant groups.
Hamas confirmed five of the dead were its members but has said it isn’t the main organizer of the protests. The event’s organizers say they are a committee made up of many political factions and independent Palestinians.
Hamas on Thursday distributed checks of at least $200 at hospitals and mosques to all those injured in last week’s protest, a move that some Palestinians said could encourage people to again become violent.
Write to Rory Jones at rory.jones@wsj.com
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