Thousands gather at the Gaza border as Land Day mass protests begin; Islamic Jihad warns Israel of war if civilians killed today

Roughly 20,000 people are protesting right now at several locations along the Gaza border. Some are throwing rocks,explosives and burning tires near the fence. The IDF is using riot dispersal measures to scatter the demonstrators, and live fire in some cases. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh arrived in the border region between Israel and the Gaza Strip about an hour ago. The IDF's Arabic-language spokesman appealed directly to residents of the Gaza Strip ahead of today's mass border protests, saying benefits could be in store if they refrain from violence. "According to Palestinian reports, if you don't act violently or with terror today, signifiant measures will be implemented that can improve a variety of civilian fields in the Gaza Strip," Avihay Adraee writes on Facebook. "Think hard before using violence and terror. Israel is determined to defend its citizens and its sovereignty," he adds. During the night there were riots in several locations along the border, when Palestinians hurled explosives and grenades at the border fence. One Palestinian, Mohammed Saad, was shot dead by IDF fire. ************************************************************** The Islamic Jihad group in Gaza warned Israel on Friday of war if Palestinian civilians were killed at the mass protests planned for Saturday. A spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades made the threat after calling for civilians to join the demonstrations in a video posted on the organization's website. "We caution the Zionist enemy against the spilling of Palestinian blood and emphasize that killing civilians will not bring it anything other than war," the spokesman, Abu Hamza, said in the video. Tens of thousands of Gazans are likely to join Saturday demonstrations for Land Day, which marks a 1976 decision by the Israeli government to seize thousands of dunams of Arab-owned land in the Galilee region of northern Israel. This year's march also marks a year since the start of the weekly violent protests along the Israel-Gaza border, known as the "March of Return." The protests have at times escalated into full-blown exchanges of fire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, most recently earlier this week.

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