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Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 31 Mar 2018
Jerusalem: At least five Palestinians have been killed in Israeli gunfire near the latter's border, reports said on Friday.
The incident unfolded after thousands of Palestinians marched to the Israel border, starting a six-week-long protest.
Conforming the death toll, the Palestinian health ministry said over 300 people have been injured.
The protest has been dubbed as the Great March of Return.
Tweeting about the incident, the Israeli Defence Force said, "Update from the Gaza Strip: Thousands of Palestinians are rioting in 6 locations in the Gaza Strip, rolling burning tires and hurling stones at the security fence and at IDF troops, who are responding with riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators."
Update from the Gaza Strip: Thousands of Palestinians are rioting in 6 locations in the Gaza Strip, rolling burning tires and hurling stones at the security fence and at IDF troops, who are responding with riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) March 30, 2018
"The IDF has enforced a closed military zone in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip in accordance with situation assessments.
"The IDF is prepared to respond to the violent riots planned throughout the Gaza Strip. The IDF views with great severity any breach of Israeli sovereignty or damage to the security fence," it said.
IDF also accused the Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization, of instigating the riot.
The Hamas terror organization cynically exploits women and children, sending them to the security fence and endangering their lives
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) March 30, 2018
"The Hamas terror organization endangers the lives of Gaza civilians and uses them for the purpose of terror. Hamas is responsible for the violent riots and all aggression from the Gaza Strip," it said.
According to Palestinian health officials, one among the five deceased is a 16-year-old boy, who was killed before Friday's protest started.
According to a BBC report, Hamas senior political leader Ismail Haniyeh urged protesters not to concede a single inch of the land of Palestine.
"There is no alternative to Palestine and no solution except to return," he was quoted as saying by the network.
Responding to Palestinian accusations, that Israeli soldiers fired upon a helpless farmer, an Israeli military spokesman said that "two suspects approached the security fence and began operating suspiciously and the tank fired towards them".
Reacting strongly against the agitation, the Israeli foreign ministry said that it was a deliberate attempt to provoke a confrontation with Israel and that "responsibility for any clashes lies solely with Hamas and other participating Palestinian organisations."
Image: Twitter and Screengrab from YouTube