Two Palestinians breached the northern border of Gaza, but were promptly caught and arrested by the military.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit released a statement in response to the violence:"Violent demonstrations during which around 6,200 protesters assembled in several locations along the Gaza border fence. The demonstrations were of an especially violent nature, which included a large amount of IEDs, grenades and Molotov cocktails being thrown towards IDF forces along the fence," it said."There is noticeable damage to the border fence in several locations, and there has been a rising number of attempts to approach the border fence,"the statement continued. "IDF forces recognized suspects crossing the border all through the strip, each quickly returning to Gazan territory. Two suspects that crossed the border fence in the north of the strip were arrested by IDF forces and brought in for interrogation."Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem tweeted in response. "Violating the blood of peaceful demonstrators in the marches of return and deliberately targeting them is a crime that the occupation bears all its repercussions."Sources in the Gaza Strip say the protest organizers, along with Hamas, have been urging restraint over the past few weeks ahead of the demonstrations, telling Palestinians not to go near the fence or blow incendiary balloons, in an attempt to lessen casualties.
Friday's events marked week 73 of the weekly demonstrations near the border. Last week, 25-year-old Palestinian Bader Adin Abu Musa was shot and killed near Khan Yunis during the protests.