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Palestinian protesters gather after tearing down a section of a border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip during clashes with Israeli security forces on October 12, 2015. Credit: AFP

Palestinian protesters tear down a section of a border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip during clashes with Israeli security forces on October 12, 2015. Credit: AFP
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from Haaretz Live updates:

6:44 P.M. Update: Twenty Palestinians broke through the fence in the southern Gaza Strip, at the same location as Saturday. IDF forces are responding, and are currently closing in on their location. IDF forces are currently spraying protesters at the fence with gas, and shooting live rounds into the air.
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by Almog Ben Zikri and Haaretz

Israeli troops use live fire and tear gas in attempt to push back Palestinians, but crowd retreats only after hour and a half; 2 Palestinians wounded, one held for questioning.

About 20 Palestinians broke through the border fence separating southern Gaza from Israel on Monday. IDF forces responded and closed in on them when they were a few feet from the fence, using live fire and tear gas in attempt to push them back.

The Palestinians remained in Israeli territory for about an hour and a half before they retreated. Two Palestinians were wounded, and one was held for questioning.

In recent days, Palestinians have been gathering along the fence regularly. IDF officials said that the forces seek to contain the protests, and try to avoid shooting at demonstrators as long as disturbances are far from Israeli towns. It seems that in the wake of the nine Palestinian deaths in clashes around the Gaza fence over the weekend, IDF forces fear the consequences of killing more civilians.

Hamas is not preventing Palestinian protesters from drawing near the border fence, with the Gaza Interior Ministry even denying that any such directive has been issued. By allowing civilian demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Hamas avoids engaging in direct conflict with Israel. Hamas' political bureau deputy chief, Musa Abu Marzouk, rebuked calls for a resumption of rocket warfare against Israel recently, saying that this would "transfer the campaign to a different front, and will snuff out the popular intifada." Some in the Strip have called on Hamas to put an end to protesters' attempts to go near the fence, saying these are suicidal acts which have no positive benefits. 

On Friday, Israeli army fire killed seven Palestinian youths and wounded 60 others in clashes near the border with Kibbutz Nahal Oz. IDF Southern Command said that forces opened fire at the demonstrators when they approached the fence, and others tried to set part of it on fire by throwing hand grenades and Molotov cocktails. Army sources say demonstrators numbered at around 3,000.

The next day, two Gazan boys were killed by IDF fire near the security fence. According to the IDF, troops opened fire after dozens of Palestinians staged a violent protest near the fence, making several attempts to harm the soldiers while drawing near the fence. After warning them repeatedly, the troops fired at three of the main agitators' lower bodies, the IDF said. 

Early Sunday, a 30-year-old pregnant woman and her small daughter were killed when the Israel Air Force struck what it said was a Hamas arms-production site in the northern Gaza Strip in response to the firing of a rocket at Ashkelon on Saturday. The bombing brought down their nearby house on top of the family, killing the two and injuring four other family members, including a 5-year-old boy.

“The IDF will not tolerate fire by terror groups onto the State of Israel’s territory and will continue to act stringently against every attempt to disturb the quiet on the southern communities,” the IDF Spokesman said Sunday. “The Hamas terror organization is the address and it is responsible.”

On Sunday morning there was a burst of light weapons fire from Gaza into Israel, which damaged a vehicle near a kibbutz in the Eshkol region. No one was hurt. The car apparently belonged to workers repairing the border fence.