Amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas, violence along the Gaza border persisted over the weekend.
The IDF said it used force necessary to repel 13,000 Palestinians who massed at several points on the fence.
Some hurled rocks, fire-bombs and grenades at troops under cover of smoke from burning tires, wounding one soldier. Nine Palestinians briefly crossed into Israel, the army said.
Gaza medical officials reported three Palestinians killed, one of them an 11-year-old boy, and at least 248 wounded Friday after taking part in the weekly border riots.
There were conflicting reports surrounding the death of the Gazan boy, which Palestinians initially blamed on Israel.
The IDF said its evidence shows the 11-year-old was hit by a rock thrown by protesters. Two Gaza rights groups said he died after being struck "with a solid object."
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Shady Abdel Aal was killed by Israeli fire. A ministry spokesman said Saturday he died from head wounds, without elaborating.
Asked about the boy's death, an IDF spokesperson said only that troops had adhered to their rules of engagement.
In May, the Gaza Health Ministry removed a baby from its official death toll after The Associated Press reported she died from a pre-existing medical condition, not from Israeli tear gas as it had claimed.
U.N. and Egyptian mediators have been trying to reach a deal to calm Gaza, where Israel and Hamas have fought three wars in the last decade. The brokering efforts have been complicated by Hamas' feuding with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which has restricted funding to Gaza.
Hamas' cross-border arson campaign also continued unabated over the weekend, as a bundle of incendiary balloons landed in a theme park near a kindergarten in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel.
There were no casualties as a result of the incident. Another incendiary balloon landed in an agricultural field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. Four fires were reported to have been caused in other locations by incendiary devices.
