Palestinians Killed in Clashes With Israel at Gaza Border
- Israel, Palestinian militants exchange fire near border
- Six-week protest intended to dramatize Palestinians’ plight
A view from across the border from the Gaza strip shows Palestinians participating in a tent city protest on March 30.
Photographer: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
A mass protest of thousands of Palestinians along Gaza’s border with Israel, billed as peaceful by its Hamas organizers, erupted in violence Friday, with at least 16 Palestinians killed and several hundred wounded in clashes with Israeli soldiers.
Friday marks the beginning of six weeks of protests Hamas has planned against Israel and the Palestinian displacement surrounding its 1948 creation. The demonstrations began Friday with tent camps set up a half-mile from Gaza’s 25-mile (40-kilometer) frontier with Israel; the climax is to come in mid-May with a mass march to the border that Israel fears will become an attempt to breach its territory.