Clashes At Gaza Border Increasing: 16 Palestinians Reported Dead

LIVE: 16 Palestinians reported dead in clashes as U.S. embassy opening nears

[14:05] Palestinians report death total rises to 16 in border protests

GAZA BORDER - Israeli troops killed at least 16 Palestinians along the Gaza border on Monday, health officials said, as demonstrators streamed to the frontier on the day the United States prepared to open its embassy in Jerusalem.

Protests intensified on the 70th anniversary of Israel's founding, with loudspeakers on Gaza mosques urging Palestinians to join a "Great March of Return." Black smoke from tires burned by demonstrators rose into the air at the border.

Israeli troops killed 16 Palestinians on Monday, including a 14-year-old boy and a man in a wheelchair, and some 500 protesters were injured, at least 200 by live bullets, health officials said. The man in the wheelchair had been pictured on social media using a slingshot.

The latest casualties raised the Palestinian death toll to 61 since the protests began on March 30. No Israeli casualties have been reported.

[13:50] IDF spokesperson says Gaza border protests

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis told Israel Public Radio the protests in Gaza were unprecedented.

"We have not seen border clashes on this scale in the Gaza Strip since the start of this wave of protests," he said. "More than 20,000 Palestinians are protesting in more than 10 locations, and in every location there are Hamas activists intending to cross the border and carry out acts of terror, including attempting to kidnap soldiers."

[13:48] Tenth protester reported killed in Gaza

GAZA BORDER - Israeli troops killed at least 10 Palestinians along the Gaza border on Monday, health officials said, as demonstrators streamed to the frontier on the day the United States prepared to open its embassy in Jerusalem.

Protests intensified on the 70th anniversary of Israel's founding, with loudspeakers on Gaza mosques urging Palestinians to join a "Great March of Return." Black smoke from tires burned by demonstrators rose into the air at the border.

Israeli troops killed 10 Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy on Monday, and some 500 protesters were injured, at least 200 by live bullets, health officials said.

The latest casualties raised the Palestinian death toll to 55 since the protests began on March 30. No Israeli casualties have been reported.

Live: 16 Gazans said killed in border clashes as over 10,000 protest

At least 5 fires raging in fields in southern Israel

At least five wildfires are raging in southern Israeli fields after being set alight by fuel-carrying kites from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli firefighters are working to extinguish the blazes, with local farmers also joining the effort.

IDF: Hamas planning ‘violent terror attacks’ on troops

The Israel Defense Forces says the Hamas terrorist group is planning to carry out violent attacks on Israeli troops on the Gaza border.

He describes the violence at the Gaza border on Monday as “different from what we’ve encountered.”

“We have information about Hamas’ intention to carry out violent terror attacks against our troops and cross the border,” says IDF spokesperson Ronen Manelis. “We are determined to prevent this.”

Gaza death toll said to climb to 16

The death toll in clashes at the Gaza border rises to 16, according to Israel’s Channel 10 news.

Hezbollah berates ‘worthless’ US embassy move

The Hezbollah terrorist organization says the US decision to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a unilateral step “that Palestinians will not accept and therefore it is worthless.”

The group’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, makes his comments in a speech in Beirut on Monday marking the 70th anniversary of what Arabs refer to as the “nakba” or catastrophe, of Israel’s creation.

Kassem adds that “God willing, the nakba that happened 70 years ago will be a motive for change and liberation.”

Arab League to convene to discuss ‘illegal’ US embassy move

The Arab League will hold emergency talks Wednesday to discuss Washington’s “illegal” decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a senior official says.

The meeting will focus on “ways of countering the illegal decision by the United States to move the embassy to Jerusalem,” the organization’s deputy secretary general for Palestinian affairs, Saeed Abu Ali, says.

He tells reporters the permanent representatives of members of the Cairo-based Arab League would meet “at the request of the state of Palestine.”

500 said injured in Gaza clashes

The Gaza health ministry says seven Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces, as violent clashes break out in five spots along the border.

More than 500 were injured, the ministry adds. One of the dead was 14 years old, it says.

VIDEO: 10,000 rally at Gaza border ahead of US embassy inauguration

IDF: 3 armed Palestinians attempt to lay bomb on border, are killed

The Israeli army says it killed three armed Palestinians who were attempting to lay a bomb on the border fence with Gaza.

“Moments ago, an IDF patrol foiled a bomb-laying attack by a cell of three armed terrorists near Rafah, close to the border. This is a particularly violent protest point. The troops responded with fire at the terrorists. The terrorists were killed.”

The IDF also says an Israeli aircraft targeted a Hamas post in Jabaliya after shots were fired at Israeli troops stationed in the area. There were no Israeli casualties, the army says.

Israel says 35,000 Palestinians are protesting at a dozen locations along the Gaza border. “Rioters are hurling pipe bombs and firebombs at IDF troops, burning tires, throwing stones and burning objects, with the intention of setting fires in Israel and hurting IDF troops,” the army says.