More than 15 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces at the Gaza-Israel border, Reuters reports, citing the Palestinian health ministry. The fatality count has varied between publications, with the N.Y. Times citing 16 and others 17.

The backdrop: 17,000 Palestinians have kicked off a 6-week protest called the Great March of Return, demanding that refugees be allowed to return to homes on the Israeli side of the border. The Israeli Defense Forces say troops fired on "the main instigators" of riots that included "rolling burning tires and hurling stones."