Fears of fresh violence ahead of new Gaza protest

GAZA - 6 April 2018: Palestinians readied Thursday for new protests along the Gaza border and Israel warned that its open-fire rules would not change as fears of fresh violence rose a week after the bloodiest day in years.

Thousands of Palestinians are again expected to gather at five spots near the Gaza border on Friday, while Israeli soldiers and snipers will take up positions on the other side of the fence.

Protest organisers said they were planning to try to stop smaller numbers of protesters approaching the fence and hurling stones or rolling burning tyres at Israeli troops, who killed 18 Palestinians last Friday.

It was the bloodiest day since a 2014 war. Another two Gazans have been killed since.

The protests are in support of refugees, including those in the Palestinian enclave who want to return to their former homes in what is now Israel.

Widespread social media calls for protesters to bring tyres to burn and Israel's pledge to prevent damage to the fence and infiltration attempts have raised fears of more deaths.

Young Palestinians have been gathering tyres and carting them near the border to burn and create a smokescreen to make it harder for Israeli snipers.

Some have been walking the streets collecting money to buy tyres.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed that open-fire rules would not change.

"If there are provocations, there will be a reaction of the harshest kind like last week," Lieberman told public radio.

Lieberman also met with Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot to discuss the situation.

The UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, called for peaceful demonstrations and restraint by Israeli forces.

"Israeli forces should exercise maximum restraint and Palestinians should avoid friction at the Gaza fence," he said in a statement.

- 'A mistake' -

Last Friday's protest near the Gaza border was attended by tens of thousands of Palestinians.

A smaller number strayed from the main protest and approached the heavily fortified fence on the border with Israel.

Israel says troops opened fire only when necessary against those throwing stones and firebombs or rolling tyres at soldiers.

It said there were attempts to damage the fence and infiltrate Israel, while alleging there was also an attempted gun attack against soldiers along the border.

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

Israeli military spokesman Ronen Manelis warned again Thursday of a wider response if such alleged activity continued.

But questions have mounted over Israel's use of live fire, with Palestinians saying protesters were fired on while posing no threat to soldiers.

Rights groups have criticised the army's actions, while the European Union and UN chief Antonio Guterres have called for an independent investigation.

Human Rights Watch called the deaths "calculated" and illegal.

The Gaza protests are supposed to last six weeks, coinciding with the expected opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem in mid-May.

The US embassy move has led to deep anger among Palestinians, who see the annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Asaad abu Sharkh, a spokesman and member of the organising committee of the protests dubbed the Great March of Return, said better attempts will be made on Friday to keep Gazans from approaching the fence.

"I think this was a mistake, a mistake of organisation from us because we shouldn't have let people (go to the border)," he said.

"But at the same time we were not expecting the Israelis to shoot to kill."

He added that "I don't think there is going to be another massacre."

Israel says more than half of the dead were members of militant groups, including the armed wing of Hamas.

Hamas's armed wing has claimed only five of them, saying they were participating "in popular events side-by-side with their people".

Militant group Islamic Jihad has claimed at least one of the dead as a member, but said he was not carrying a weapon when he was shot.

Hamas has meanwhile offered compensation of $3,000 to the families of protesters killed and $500 for those seriously injured.

- 'A peaceful protest' -

Smaller protests have continued this week, while preparations for the large demonstration for Friday have also been under way.

The protests have included events such as traditional dabke dancing at the tents further away from the fence, while closer to the barrier mostly young men have thrown stones toward Israeli soldiers on the other side of the dusty border.

At least one man was seen trying in vain to reflect the light off a small mirror into Israeli snipers' eyes.

On Thursday in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, Abu Yassin, 28, was among those collecting tyres and hauling them in carts pulled by motorbikes.

He said they were planning to light a number of tyres a few yards away from each other along the border at the same time to make it impossible for Israeli soldiers to see and shoot them.

"This is a peaceful protest," he insisted.