Around 5,000 Palestinian Arabs demonstrated along the border fence in Gaza on Friday, as part of the weekly “March of the Return” riots.
The protesters threw grenades and explosives at the fence, and some even approached it. IDF soldiers responded using riot dispersal measures.
The Hamas-run “health ministry” in Gaza said 38 people were injured as a result of IDF fire.
Meanwhile, three small brush fires broke out in the Gaza envelope as a result of incendiary balloons fired from Gaza, two in the Negev Sdot Regional Council and one in the Eshkol Regional Council.
Firefighters who were called to the scene were able to extinguish within a few minutes and prevented them from spreading.
The border riots follow two security incidents along the border this past week. On Sunday morning an armed terrorist approached the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip.
The terrorist fired at IDF soldiers along the border. The soldiers, who were on alert following the identification of the terrorist, opened fire at him.
That incident came 24 hours after IDF soldiers from the Golani Brigade shot and killed four armed terrorists who attempted to infiltrate Israel early Saturday morning.
The terrorists, who attempted to cross into Israel from near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, were spotted as they approached the border fence.
The terrorists were armed with Kalashnikov rifles, hand grenades, and launcher for rocket-propelled grenades (RPG).
