Israeli forces kill six Palestinian protesters on Gaza border

At least six Palestinians died Friday and 500 others sustained injuries during protests along the Gaza border with Israel. Leaders of Hamas, the Gaza-based Islamic militant group, called for six-weeks of sit-in protests to mark the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel. The protests quickly turned violent. The Israeli military reported thousands of Palestinians burned tires and threw stones at soldiers positioned at the border. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces responded with live fire, rubber-coated steel pellets, and tear gas, injuring at least 500 Palestinians in the process. Maj. Gen. Eval Zamir, commander of the Israeli military’s Southern Command, urged Gaza residents to stay away from the border as authorities identified “attempts to carry out terror attacks under the camouflage of riots.” In a separate incident Friday, fire from an Israeli tank shell killed a Palestinian farmer as he worked in his field.