Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated along the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Friday for the third consecutive week, starting riots in four areas near the border fence and torching tires and burning Israeli flags.
Dozens of Palestinians attempted to breach the security fence in at least one spot, but were warded off by Israeli security forces. The Hamas terrorist group, which rules the Gaza Strip, has called on protesters to clash with Israeli troops.
About 20,000 Palestinians protested along the security fence last Friday, and about 30,000 Palestinians demonstrated there the previous week.
On Thursday, Hamas said it was expecting about 25,000 demonstrators to arrive at the border this week.
Palestinian medical sources said at least six Palestinians were wounded in Friday's clashes.
IDF Spokesman in Arabic Maj. Avichay Adraee called on Gazans to refrain from cooperating with Hamas.
"The desecration of the [Muslim] holy day of Friday with terrorism is heresy," he wrote in a social media post. "In light of these [Hamas'] intentions, the IDF again warns against approaching the security fence: Do not allow Hamas to exploit you to commit attacks because you are the ones who will pay the price."
Israeli troops have been instructed to use crowd control measures and resort to live fire only to prevent infiltration attempts, terrorist attacks, or attempts to harm soldiers, the IDF said.
The military has been on high alert on the border since March 25, maintaining an increased presence of infantry, Armored Corps and Combat Intelligence troops, alongside special forces, sappers and snipers.
The IDF said Hamas terrorists have been instigating riots and using them as cover to plant explosives on the security fence.
Thirty Palestinians have been killed in border riots over the past two weeks, 10 of them known terrorists. Last week, demonstrators launched a "tire-torching campaign," using mirrors and setting fire to hundreds of tires to create smokescreens to hinder Israeli troops.
Sources in the IDF Southern Command said that chatter on Palestinian social media indicated that this week, protesters were planning a "Molotov campaign" and were likely to hurl large numbers of firebombs over the security fence.
The main concern would be some of the firebombs hitting agricultural areas near the border and sparking large fires.
Gaza sources said Hamas had used more than 2,500 gallons of petrol to make firebombs, thousands of which would be distributed to protesters on the border.
A senior Hamas official told Israel Hayom that the group was using this week's protest as a "practice run" for demonstrations planned for April 17, when the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank mark Prisoners' Day.
Meanwhile, the Arab League announced it would hold an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss "the escalation in the Gaza Strip and Israel's aggression toward the Palestinians."
The conference was called after last week's border riots but before Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus.
