Israel dropped leaflets in the Gaza Strip on Friday warning Palestinians not to approach its border fence as the military braced for fresh clashes along the frontier.
"The Hamas terror organization is taking advantage of you in order to carry out terrorist attacks. The IDF is prepared for all scenarios. Stay away from the fence and do not attempt to harm it," said the leaflets scattered by Israeli aircraft in the early morning in areas along the border.
Palestinian medical sources reported Friday that one youth was killed in clashes with Israeli troops near Jabaliya, in northern Gaza. According to the report, the youth was killed as a group of Palestinians approached the security fence and the IDF opened fire to ward them off.
Thousands of Palestinians were expected to gather along the Israel-Gaza border, as they have every Friday over the past month for mass demonstrations.
Last week's border protest was dubbed the "firebomb campaign" and saw Palestinian demonstrators hurl thousands of Molotov cocktails at Israeli troops near the border. The week before, hundreds of tires were torched near the security fence as the demonstrators tried to use the thick smoke to breach the border.
The IDF said that this week's protest is likely to be a "kite campaign," as Palestinian protesters have been making increasing use of kites armed with firebombs, which they send from Gaza to crash over the border.
The Facebook page of the Gaza protest organizers published images Wednesday of Israeli fields behind the fence, taken from a small camera attached to a kite.
Several fires have broken out in border-adjacent communities due to these kites crashing there. Security forces are ready to intercept the kites, a defense official told Israel Hayom.
The military further believes the protests are losing momentum, as the number of Palestinians who arrive at the border is decreasing weekly.
Meanwhile, Gaza protest organizers moved sit-in tents several hundred feet closer to the Israeli border Thursday.
While some organizers insist on portraying the protests as peaceful, Hamas and the other terrorist groups in the coastal enclave have made it clear that a border breach is being considered.
"We will cross the border," Islamic Jihad operative Daoud Shehab said, adding that Israel "should feel really jittery as a result of these marches."
Israeli military officials have warned that they will not tolerate a mass border breach or permit protesters to get close to the security fence.
The IDF said Thursday that it was ready for all scenarios and is "prepared to prevent any breach of Israeli sovereignty or damage to the border fence."
Also on Thursday, the Islamic Jihad's military wing released a video featuring IDF officers in snipers' crosshairs.
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai can be clearly seen in the footage, standing next to other officers and soldiers.
The IDF said the footage was no more than a few weeks old and was most likely taken during one of the riots that have taken place near the Israel-Gaza Strip border over the past few weeks.
The London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reported Thursday that Hamas has rejected an Egyptian offer to halt the border demonstrations in exchange for a "significant mitigation" of the decade-old Gaza blockade.
On Wednesday, inspectors at the Raihan crossing near the West Bank city of Jenin prevented what the defense establishment called a major terrorist attack.
The inspectors found a 10-kilogram (22-pound) explosive device hidden in a truck hauling goods across the Green Line. It is believed terrorists were planning to detonate the device during Independence Day events.
The driver was arrested and handed over to the Shin Bet security agency for interrogation.
"We will hunt down the terrorists who planned to ruin our day of celebration," Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.
