According to the Ministry of Health in the Palestinian territory, five Palestinian demonstrators were killed by an explosive device during clashes with the Israeli army near the border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening.
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According to a witness and the Israeli army, a crowd of Palestinians, including many teenagers, gathered near the border with Israel when violence erupted.
A witness told AFP that a device carried by a protester, possibly a grenade, exploded.
The health ministry, run by Gaza’s ruling Hamas, said an explosion killed five Palestinians and injured 19, without giving further details.
“A few meters from the wall (that separates Israel from Gaza) a device exploded,” a Palestinian security source told AFP.
The border protest was organized to mark the 18th anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and the 30th anniversary of the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Agreement on Palestinian autonomy.
The Israeli army said in a statement that “hundreds of people took part in a riot near the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip.”
“There was an attempt to throw an explosive device at the soldiers. “The device exploded in the Gaza Strip, injuring several rioters,” the army said.
The poverty and unemployment-ridden Gaza Strip, a cramped area where some 2.3 million Palestinians live crowded together, has been the scene of several wars with Israel since 2008.
After Hamas took control of the territory in 2007, Israel imposed a strict blockade on the Gaza Strip.