In an interview on CNN's 'State Of The Union,' Sen. Bernie Sanders commented on the clashes this weekend at the Gaza border fence, where Israel troops shot and killed at least a dozen protesters, allegedly wounding nearly 1000:



Meanwhile, the situation in Gaza remains a humanitarian disaster. The U.S. must play a more positive role in ending the Gaza blockade and helping Palestinians and Israelis build a future that works for all. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 31, 2018

TAPPER: Let's stay in that region for one second, because I want to turn to the violent clashes in Gaza over the weekend. You tweeted about this yesterday.



You wrote -- quote -- "The killing of Palestinian demonstrators by Israeli forces in Gaza is tragic. It is the right of all people to protest for a better future without a violent response" -- unquote.



The Israeli government called the protests -- quote -- "violent terror demonstrations." The ambassador of Israel to the United States said Hamas fighters were interspersed throughout the crowd, using human shields, and were killed after making -- quote -- "direct attacks" on Israeli positions.



Do you not accept the Israeli's government's explanation?



SANDERS: No, I don't.



I think, from what my understanding is, is you have tens and tens of thousands of people who are engaged in a nonviolent protest. I believe now 15 or 20 people, Palestinians, have been killed, and many, many others have been wounded.



So, I think it's a difficult situation, but my assessment is that Israel overreacted on that. But, again, the bottom line here is that the United States of America has got to be involved in dealing with the terrible tragedy in Gaza, whether it is Syria, whether it's Yemen, whether it's Gaza.



We're looking at the need for the international community, led by the United States, to deal with that situation. Gaza is a disaster right now. Youth unemployment is off the charts. And we are going to continue to see those kinds of demonstrations and protests, unless the world community recognizes the problem in Gaza and brings the Israelis and the Palestinians together to start addressing those problems.

Watch Sanders' full interview below, where he talks about the firing of VA secretary Shulkin, Trump's latest attacks on Amazon, and Syria: