Al-Rooters. Paleos learn slowlyDozens of Palestinian youths gathered by the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday, though the area remained mostly quiet, a day after deadly violence broke out in one of the biggest Palestinian demonstrations there in years.
In the southern Gaza Strip, residents said Israeli troops fired warning shots toward a crowd of youths, some of whom burned tyres. Health officials said two people were wounded and an Israeli military spokesman said he was checking the details.
On Friday, at least 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces confronting protesters, some of whom the military said had opened fire, rolled burning tyres and hurled rocks and fire bombs toward troops across the border.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Saturday a national day of mourning and a general strike was called across the occupied West Bank. Thousands in Gaza marched through the streets at funerals for those killed.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on Friday along the fenced 65-km (40-mile) frontier, where tents were erected for a planned six-week protest pressing for a right of return for refugees and their descendents to what is now Israel. The Israeli military estimate was 30,000.
Families brought their
Planned collateral damage
But as Friday wore on, hundreds of Palestinian youths ignored calls from the organizers and the Israeli military to stay away from the frontier, where Israeli soldiers on the other side kept watch from dirt mound embankments, and violence broke out.
The Gaza Health Ministry had said on Friday 16 people were killed but revised the death toll to 15 on Saturday.
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