Journalist among 9 killed as Palestinians protest in Gaza

At least nine Palestinians, including a journalist, were killed by Israeli forces on the Gaza border on Friday, as thousands of demonstrators burned tyres and sent towers of thick black smoke billowing over the isolated Mediterranean enclave. 

The latest fatalities mean that 31 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli snipers since Gaza residents last week began "the Great March of Return", a series of weekly border protests demanding the right to return to their ancestral homes in what is today Israel. 

Around 20,000 Palestinians flocked to five protests site along the border, according to the Israeli military. A 16-year-old and a well-known Palestinian journalist were among those killed, Gaza health officials said. The health ministry said 408 Palestinians had been taken to hospitals and medical centres for treatment. Hundreds more suffered other injuries, including tear gas inhalation, the officials said.

Early on Saturday, Palestinian health officials confirmed that Yasser Murtaga had died from a gunshot wound sustained while covering demonstrations near the Israeli border in Khuzaa. The area was the scene of large protests Friday, and was covered in thick black smoke.

Murtaga was over 100 meters (yards) from the border, wearing a flak jacket marked "press" and holding his camera when he was shot in an exposed area just below the armpit. Journalists were in the area as protesters were setting tires on fire.

An injured Palestinian protestor is carried by fellow demonstrators during clashes with Israeli security forces CREDIT: SAID KHATIB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The Israeli military has said it fired only at "instigators" involved in attacks on soldiers or the border fence. It had no immediate comment.

Demonstrators burned hundreds of rubber tyres all along the Israeli frontier, creating a wall of smoke which they hoped would blind Israeli marksmen. Israeli forces used fire hoses to try to put out the flames and large turbine fans to keep the noxious smoke from blowing into Israel.   

The overwhelming majority of the protesters were unarmed and the small handful who did carry weapons were wielding small axes, knives, or heavy shears to try to cut through the Israel fence. The Telegraph saw no firearms in the crowds. 

The Israeli military alleged that Hamas operatives had tried to use the chaos of the riots to damage the border fence. A spokesman said there were at least four attempts to throw improvised bombs towards Israeli forces. 

No Israelis were killed or wounded during either Friday's demonstrations or the clashes last week. 

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, had earlier appealed to the Israeli military to use "extreme caution with the use of force in order to avoid casualties" among Palestinian demonstrators. 

Human rights groups have criticised the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) for their policy of directing sniper fire on those who come too close to the fence, arguing that lethal force is only permissible to counter an imminent threat to life. 

Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the IDF, said Israel was "using less lethal means to the greatest extent possible before using lethal means". He said Israeli forces were justified in opening fire to prevent Palestinians breaking through the Gaza border fence. 

"The reason we are so adamant about the integrity of the fence is because it is all that separates thousands of rioters from the nearest Israeli target, which could be a kibbutz, or a farm, or other Israeli communities, or Israeli soldiers," he said.