JERUSALEM, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Israeli military said Monday that its troops shot and killed three Palestinians who were on their way to plant an explosive device near the fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
The incident took place amidst mass protest near the fence. Israeli forces reacted with fire, killing at least 18 Palestinians and injuring 900 others since Monday morning, according to Palestinian reports.
A military statement said the three men were armed. When they approached the fence near the area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, "the forces responded with fire towards the terrorists. They were killed," the statement read.
A military aircraft also attacked a Hamas position near Jabalia, north of Gaza City, after gunshots were fired from this area, according to the statement.
The national commission of the protests in Gaza called for the largest-ever mass rallies on Monday and Tuesday.
By noon, some 35,000 protesters were rallying the fence in 12 different locations.
According to the Israeli military, the protesters were hurling Molotov cocktails, torching tires, throwing stones and hot coals in order to set fire to agricultural fields in Israeli territory.
Over the past days, the military deployed 11 battalions along the fence. "The Israel Defense Force will not allow any damage to the security fence and infrastructure," it warned.
The protest coincides with the 70th anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence, a day before the Palestinians' Nakba Day, or "Day of Catastrophe."
The event is also held to protest over U.S. relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last December.
