Israeli forces shoot dead seven Palestinians in Gaza protests

GAZA CITY - Seven Palestinians, including two boys aged 12 and 14, were killed by Israeli forces along the Gaza border Friday, the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled strip said.

It was the bloodiest day of border protests since May 14, when more than 60 Palestinians died in violence accompanying the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem, a move that enraged Palestinians.

Nasser Mosabih, 12, Mohammed al-Houm, 14, and Iyad Al-Shaar, 18, were shot dead Friday during protests along the frontier with Israel, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

Four men in their twenties were also killed in the widespread violence along the border, the spokesman said, adding that 210 people were hospitalised, including 90 with gunshot wounds.

The Israeli army said in a statement that some 20,000 "rioters" had gathered at multiple sites along the border and that people had hurled "grenades and explosive devices in several different locations".

The military said troops fired "in accordance with standard operating procedures" and that an Israeli aircraft also struck two positions belonging the Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas.

"Hamas is responsible for the violent riots and their consequences," it said.

Further deterioration

Palestinians have been protesting at least weekly along the Gaza border since March 30 in what they call the "Great March of Return".

Friday's protests were bigger than those in recent weeks.

At least 193 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March, the majority during border protests, while one Israeli soldier has been shot dead by a Palestinian sniper.

The UN called for Israel and Hamas rulers to rein in violence a day after the deaths of the seven Palestinians.

"I am deeply saddened by reports that seven Palestinians, including two children, were killed, and hundreds of others injured, by Israeli forces during demonstrations in the Gaza Strip yesterday (Friday)," the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Jamie McGoldrick, said in a statement.

"I call on Israel, Hamas and all other actors with the ability to influence the situation, to take action now to prevent further deterioration and loss of life."

"I call on Israeli forces to ensure that their use of force is in line with their obligations under international law," McGoldrick said.

"All actors must ensure that children never be the target of violence and neither be put at risk of violence, nor encouraged to participate in violence."

In a statement on Saturday the Israeli army said Hamas was "endangering children by sending them to the security fence as a cover for terror activity".

'Free fall'

The Israeli military declined to comment on Friday's reported deaths.

It said that troops spotted several Palestinians breaching the border fence and briefly entering Israeli territory before fleeing back into Gaza.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for unrest originating in the territory under its control.

The two sides have fought three wars since 2008, and in between there have been spikes of violence marked by Palestinian cross-border rocket and mortar fire and retaliatory Israeli air strikes.

Throughout the protests since March, Israel has said its actions are necessary to defend the border and accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to attempt infiltrations and attacks.

Palestinians and human rights groups say protesters have been shot while posing no real threat.

The protests are demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to be allowed to return to homes their families fled in the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel and which are now in Israel.

Israel says any such mass return would mean the end of it as a 'Jewish state'.

The march is also a protest against a more than 10-year-old Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The World Bank on Tuesday said that the Gaza Strip's economy is in "free fall" as cuts to aid and salaries add to the effects of the already crippling Israeli blockade.