Dozens injured in fresh protests along Gaza-Israel border

Thousands gather along border fence for third Friday of six-week protest

Palestinians burn tires at the border fence with Israel, east of Jabalia in the central Gaza city, during a protest on April 13. Several thousand Gazans gathered for a third consecutive Friday of mass protests along the border with Israel after violence in which Israeli forces have killed 33 Palestinians and wounded hundreds of others. Mohammed Abed / AFP Photo

Palestinian protesters hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel. Khalil Hamra / Ap Photo

Palestinians take cover from tear gas smoke during clashes with Israeli security forces near the border fence with Israel, east of Gaza City in the central Gaza Strip on April 13. Mahmud Hams / AFP Photo

Two Palestinian boys hide from the sun as others burn tires at the border fence with Israel, east of Jabalia in the central Gaza city, during a protest. Mohammed Abed / AFP Photo

Palestinians protesters burn tires at the border fence with Israel, east of Jabalia in the central Gaza city. Mohammed Abed / AFP Photo

Palestinians prepare to burn tires during a protest at the border fence with Israel, east of Jabalia in the central Gaza city, on April 13. Mohammed Abed / AFP Photo

Palestinians pick up stones during a protest at the border fence with Israel, east of Jabalia in the central Gaza city. Mohammed Abed / AFP Photo

Palestinians prepare to burn tires during a protest at the border fence with Israel, east of Jabalia in the central Gaza city. Mohammed Abed / AFP Photo

At least 30 Palestinians were injured in clashes along the Gaza-Israel border as thousands gathered for a third consecutive Friday of protests.

Clashes between stone-throwing Palestinians and Israeli soldiers took place in multiple spots along the border while tear gas and plumes of black smoke from burning tyres filled the air in some areas.

Israeli forces have killed 33 Palestinians and wounded hundreds of others on the two previous Fridays of protest on March 30 and April 6, when soldiers used live fire, rubber bullets and tear gas.

At least 30 Palestinians were wounded by Friday afternoon, the health ministry in Gaza said, with one shot in the head. Ten medics were treated for tear gas inhalation after a canister landed in their site.

Israel's army alleged there were attempts to damage and breach the border fence, and that firebombs and "an explosive device" were thrown.

At one spot protesters were seen trying pull away barbed wire set up by Israeli forces to keep them away from the fence.

The military said soldiers were responding "with riot dispersal means and are firing in accordance with the rules of engagement".

In northern Gaza, a large Israeli flag was burned that had earlier been set on the ground for protesters to walk over.

Dozens of Israeli flags were being burned in Jabalia in northern Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian ones were held aloft.

The protests since March 30 have posed a challenge to Israel, which has dismissed criticism of its use of live fire, saying its rules of engagement are necessary and will not change.

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The protests, planned to last six weeks, are calling for Palestinian refugees to be allowed to return to their former homes that are now inside Israel - which Israelis say essentially amounts to calling for the country's destruction.

In the northern Gaza Strip, Sumaya Abu Awad, 36, attended the protest with her three daughters and son.

"I am from the village of Hiribya and it is my right to return to it," she said, referring to a village north of Gaza destroyed in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.

"I am not afraid of death because there is no life in Gaza already."

There were so far fewer protesters on Friday than in the two previous demonstrations, which saw tens of thousands gather near the border with Israel at five locations.

Israel accuses Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza and with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of using the protests as cover to carry out violence.

It has pledged to stop attacks, damage to the fence and infiltration bids, and says there have been attempts at all three.

But Palestinians say protesters are being shot while posing no threat to soldiers, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the European Union have called for an independent investigation.

The dead from last Friday included a journalist, Yasser Murtaja, who witnesses said was wearing a press vest at the time he was shot.

Israel claimed he was a paid member of Hamas, but produced no evidence.

The company Murtaja co-founded had been vetted for US government funding, while an international journalists federation said he was harassed and beaten by Hamas police in 2015.

Rights groups have strongly criticised Israeli forces while pointing to unverified videos that have spread online of Gazans appearing to be shot, including one seeming to show a Palestinian targeted as he ran away from the fence while holding a tyre.

Hamas officials have said in recent days they want this week's protest to see less bloodshed and hope to keep momentum building for May 14, when the United States is expected to move its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The embassy move has deeply angered the Palestinians, who see the Israel-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Organisers also again said they want the protest to be peaceful this week, but it is unclear to what extent they or even Hamas remain in control.

The official end date of the protests is May 15, when Palestinians mark the Nakba, or "catastrophe", commemorating the more than 700,000 who fled or were expelled during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.

Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for more than 10 years, while its border with Egypt has also been largely closed in recent years.

In a rare move, Egypt opened its crossing with Gaza on Thursday and it will remain open until Saturday.

Israeli media reports have said Egypt, one of only two Arab countries to have signed a peace treaty with the Jewish state, had been negotiating with Hamas to seek to calm the crisis, but there has been no confirmation.

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