Israeli troops kill four Palestinians as Gaza marks protests anniversary

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians as tens of thousands protesters gathered at the Israel-Gaza fence on Saturday to mark a year since protests and clashes erupted there.

They began protests on March 30 last year to demand the easing of an Israeli-Egyptian economic blockade and the right of return to lands that Palestinian families fled or were driven from on Israel's founding in 1948.

Tear gas was used to disperse crowds as ambulances arrived on standby.

Earlier, Gaza health officials said Israeli troops shot and killed four Palestinians men near the perimeter fence with Israel.

In the year since the protests started, at least 267 Palestinians have been killed. 

Fouad Aishan, 40, came with his five children to the frontier. 

He said he plans to show his children the Israeli forces and return to safety before the march started.

"I come here driven by personal national motivation," he said. "It has nothing to do with what the politicians do."

TRT World's Abubakr al Shamahi reports from Gaza.

'We believe in the idea'

Basheer Faraj lost his left leg in May when he was protesting at the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. He was shot by an Israeli sniper. 

Saturday's one year anniversary of the start of the protests will bring Basheer and other Palestinians again.

"I've accepted my injury, and on March 30th I'm going to take part, and I'll be at the front of the protest ... People can stare at me, but it doesn't affect me," Basheer said.

"We participate because we believe in the idea. And the evidence is that when one of us is injured, we still go back to protest again. Because the goal isn't to get injured and stay at home. The goal is to send the message out," said Yousef Abdrabo, protester of the Great March of Return.

Tensions have mounted along the Gaza border this week ahead of the commemoration.

TRT World's Abubakr al Shamahi has more. 

'Guilty of war crimes'

Israel's use of lethal force has drawn censure from the United Nations and rights groups. UN investigators said last week that Israeli forces may be guilty of war crimes for using excessive force.

Israel says it has no choice but to use deadly force at the protests to prevent people from breaching the border fence and attacking civilian communities in the area.

More than two million Palestinians are packed into the narrow coastal enclave where poverty and unemployment rates are high. 

The blockade is cited by humanitarian agencies as a key reason for impoverishment in Gaza.

Israel seized Gaza in a 1967 war and pulled out its troops in 2005.