JERUSALEM- Clashes erupted as thousands of Gazans marched near the Israeliborder in a major protest on Friday, with five Palestinians killed and morethan 50 wounded.

Some Gazans estimated the total number of protesters in the tens ofthousands, including women and children.

They gathered at multiple sites throughout the blockaded territory, whichis flanked by Israel along its eastern and northern borders, AFPcorrespondents said.

Smaller numbers approached within a few hundreds metres (yards) of theheavily fortified border fence, with Israeli troops using tear gas and livefire to force them back.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 201 people wounded from live fire,while the health ministry in the Gaza Strip said four people were killedduring the clashes.

Israel’s military said: “17,000 Palestinians are rioting in five locationsalong the Gaza Strip security fence.

“The rioters are rolling burning tyres and hurling firebombs and rocks atthe security fence and at (Israeli) troops, who are responding with riotdispersal means and firing towards main instigators.”

Earlier in the day, before the main protests began, a Palestinian farmerwas killed by Israeli tank fire near the border, the health ministry said.

The Israeli military said the tank fire came after “two suspects approachedthe security fence … and began operating suspiciously.”

Protesters were demanding hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees whofled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948be allowed to return.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya attended the protest, believed to be the firsttime he had gone so close to the border in years.

Organisers said the six-week protest would run until the inauguration ofthe new US embassy in Jerusalem around May 14.

The upcoming embassy move has added to tensions surrounding the march.

Israel announced a “closed military zone in the area surrounding the GazaStrip,” accusing its Islamist rulers Hamas of using the lives of civilians“for the purpose of terror.”

It has deployed reinforcements, including more than 100 special forcessnipers, for fear of mass attempts to break through the security fence.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a Twitter post directedto Gazans in both Hebrew and Arabic that “Hamas’s leadership is playingwith your life.”

“Anyone who approaches the fence today will be putting themselves indanger.”

US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital inDecember has infuriated Palestinians, who claim its annexed eastern sectoras the capital of their future state.

Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008. – APP/AFP