
Three people, including a teenage boy, have been shot dead and at least 250 others have been injured by Israeli forces as clashes yet again erupted on the Gaza-Israel border today, Palestinian health officials said.

The death of the male protesters, aged 16, 29 and 38, raises the number of casualties to 22 in the week-long disturbances, during which thousands of Palestinians have gathered along the border, calling for refugees to be allowed to return to the lands that are now inside Israel.

Palestinians have been burning tyres and throwing stones at Israeli soldiers over the border fence, with the military is responding with tear gas and live fire throughout the day.

Black sky: Israeli soldiers are seen next to the border fence on the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, as black smoke rises while Palestinians protest on the Gaza side of the border

Projectiles: A Palestinian man throws a burning tyre during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday

Shot: An injured Palestinian protester is carried by fellow demonstrators during clashes with Israeli security forces

As at least one Palestinian protester is reported to have been hit by live fire from the Israeli military, concerns grow about more bloodshed. Last week, more than 20 protesters were killed by Israeli fire and hundreds injured, Gaza health officials said.

Today's march has been nicknamed 'the Friday of Old Tires' because protesters plan to burn rubber in hopes that thick black smoke will block the view of Israeli snipers deployed on the other side of the border fence.

Yesterday, Hamas announced that it would pay $3,000 (£2,140) to the family of anyone killed in the protests, $500 (£357) to Palestinians critically wounded and $200 (£143) to those who sustain more minor injuries.

Israeli leaders have said payments by Palestinian authorities to the families of militants killed or imprisoned by Israel encourages attacks on Israelis.

'I will be a martyr today. I will cross the border,' Ahmed Abu Ghali, 20, who held up his shirt to show his still seeping wound from last week that required 40 stitches, said east of Khan Yunis. 'I was wounded last Friday but escaped yesterday from hospital.'

Outrage: Palestinian protesters burn a U.S flag at the Israel-Gaza border during a protest demanding the right to return to their homelands, which are now on the Israel side of the border

Burning: Other protesters burned tyres in order to obstruct the view of Israeli forces on the other side of the fence

No view: Palestinian men wave their national flags as smoke billows from burning tyres at the Israel-Gaza border during a protest, east of Gaza City in the Gaza strip

Shooting blind: Israeli security forces are seen against the backdrop of the thick black smoke near Kibbutz Nir Oz

David and Goliath: A Palestinian demonstrator uses a slingshot to hurls stones at Israeli troops and snipers

Yehia Abu Daqqa, a 20-year-old student, said he had come to demonstrate and honor those killed in the past.

'Yes, there is fear,' he said of the risks of advancing toward the fence. 'We are here to tell the occupation that we are not weak.'

Protesters also moved toward other camps, including east of Gaza City, where a senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, greeted the crowd. Nearby, smoke from burning tires rose into the sky.

Friday's march is the second in what Gaza's Hamas rulers said would be several weeks of protests against a decade-old border blockade of the territory.

Israel has accused Hamas of trying to carry out border attacks under the cover of large protests and said it will prevent a breach of the fence at all costs.

A woman holds a Palestinian flag during clashes with Israeli troops at the Israel-Gaza border at a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, in the southern Gaza Strip

On fire: A young Palestinian demonstrator holds a burning U.S. flag at the Israel-Gaza border, left, and right, Palestinian protesters carry a wounded man during today's protest

Palestinian men run for cover from tears gas canisters at the Israel-Gaza border during a protest

Israeli sharpshooters can be seen in the foreground as some of the hundreds of protesters are obstructed by the black smoke

Young fighter: A Palestinian boy has made a make-shift gas mask out of a plastic bottle and a can filled with what appears to be cotton wool to protects himself from inhaling tear gas at the Israel-Gaza border

Clashes: Palestinian men carry an injured protester after clashes with Israeli forces at the Israel-Gaza border during a protest, east of Gaza City in the Gaza strip

Strategy: Palestinian men collect tyres and burn them to protect themselves from shots of Israeli soldiers at the border

Israel's defense minister has warned that protesters approaching the border fence endanger their lives, drawing condemnation from rights groups that said such seemingly broad open-fire rules are unlawful.

A leading Israeli rights group, B'Tselem, issued a rare appeal to Israeli soldiers to refuse 'grossly illegal' orders to fire at unarmed protesters.

A White House envoy urged Palestinians to stay away from the fence. Jason Greenblatt said the United States condemns 'leaders and protesters who call for violence or who send protesters - including children - to the fence, knowing that they may be injured or killed.'

Last Friday, thousands of Gaza residents participated in the demonstration, many gathering in five tent encampments that had been set up from north to south along the narrow coastal strip's border with Israel, each at a distance of about several hundred meters from the fence.

Smaller groups, mostly young men, rushed forward, throwing stones, hurling firebombs or burning tires and drawing Israeli fire.

Hiding from bullets: Palestinian demonstrators take cover during clashes with Israeli troops on Friday

Moving in: Palestinians remove part of the Israeli fence at the Israel-Gaza border

Israeli forces are deployed near the kibbutz Nir Oz at the Gaza-Israel border where tyre fire smoke billows from the Palestinian camp of Khuza'a near Khan Yunis, in the southern part of Gaza

Rows to burn: A Palestinian protester sids in a tyre lined up during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah

Planning the next move: Palestinian protesters sit over tens of tires collected to be burned during the protest

In all, 22 Palestinians were killed in Gaza over the past week, among them 16 involved in last Friday's protests, according to Gaza health officials. This includes a 30-year-old who died on Friday of injuries sustained last week, the officials said.

The six other deaths included three gunmen killed in what Israel said were attempts to attack the border and three men who were struck by Israeli tank fire.

Last week's turnout was apparently driven by the organizational prowess of Hamas as well as the growing desperation of Gaza residents who live in what has been described as the world's largest open-air prison.

The crowd size was seen as a test for Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seized the territory in 2007 from its political rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

For Hamas, it's perhaps the last chance to break a border blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt since 2007, without having to succumb to demands that it disarm.

Home made: A Palestinian woman protects herself from inhaling tear gas with the help of a piece of plastic and an onion

Palestinian men hold their national flag next to a tyre fire at the Israel-Gaza border during a protest, east of Gaza City

Ready to demonstrate: Palestinian men prepare to protest at the Israel-Gaza border near Khan Yunis, east of Gaza City

Encampment: A Palestinian youth sits on a tyre stack as protesters run back and forth between the tyre fires

Smoke rises: A picture taken from the southern Israeli kibbutz of Nahal Oz across the border with the Gaza strip shows Palestinian men protesting and black smoke from burning rubber rising to the sky

Another image taken from Nahal Oz shows dozens of protesters on the Gaza side

Make-shift strategy: A Palestinian man wearing a Guy Fawkes maskprepare to protest with onions meant minimize the effects of tear gas at the Israel-Gaza border near Khan Yunis

The blockade has made it increasingly difficult for Hamas to govern. It has also devastated Gaza's economy, made it virtually impossible for people to enter and exit the territory and left residents with just a few hours of electricity a day.

Hamas leaders billed the final protest, set for May 15, as the 'Great March of Return' of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, implying they would try to enter Israel. But they stopped short of specifically threatening a mass breach of the border fence.

Israel has warned that it will not permit a breach of the fence and said it has a right to defend its sovereign border.

Military officials have said Hamas has used the protests as a cover for damaging the fence, planting explosives and, in one incident, opening fire on soldiers.

Israel argues that Hamas could have ended the suffering of Gaza's 2 million people by disarming and renouncing violence.

Hamas has refused to give up its weapons - even at the cost of derailing talks on getting Abbas to assume the burden of governing Gaza, seen by Israel and Egypt as a prerequisite for opening Gaza's borders.