(30 Mar 2018) Large crowds of flag-waving Palestinian protesters marched toward the Gaza border fence with Israel on Friday, some of them throwing stones and drawing Israeli fire that officials said killed at least seven people.
A Palestinian farmer was also killed earlier by by pre-dawn tank fire in a separate incident, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Ministry said at least 1,000 Palestinians were hurt by the live fire, rubber-coated steel pellets or tear gas fired by Israeli forces at several locations along the fence, but did not provide the breakdown.
The protests marked the launch of what Gaza's Hamas rulers envision as a 6-week-long campaign of mass sit-ins along the border, meant to spotlight the demand of uprooted Palestinians and their descendants to return to what is now Israel.
It's also seen as a new attempt by Hamas to break a decade-old Gaza border blockade.
Israel's military said thousands of Palestinians rolled burning tyres and threw stones at forces stationed on the border, and that troops opened fire at the "main instigators."
Palestinian witnesses said tens of thousands gathered in tent encampments set up at five sites at a distance of several hundred metres (yards) from the border, but that only some of them engaged in clashes.
Such mass gatherings near the border signal a new tactic by Hamas - and one that might prove more challenging to Israel's military than previous smaller protests.
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