At least 10 Palestinians were killed and 1,000 injured by Israeli security forces confronting one of the largest Palestinian demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border in recent years, Gaza medical officials said. Large crowds of flag-waving Palestinian protesters marched toward the Gaza border fence with Israel on Friday. It was the deadliest day in Gaza in several months. The Israeli military said that its troops had used “riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators” and that some of the demonstrators were “rolling burning tires and hurling stones” at the border fence and at soldiers. The Palestinian Health Ministry said protesters were hurt by live fire, rubber-coated steel pellets or tear gas fired by Israeli forces at several locations along the fence, but did not provide the breakdown. Witnesses said the military had deployed a drone over at least one location to drop tear gas. The Palestinian protest marked “Land Day,” an annual commemoration of the deaths of six Arab citizens of Israel killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations over government land confiscations in northern Israel in 1976. The 6-week-long campaign of mass sit-ins along the border is meant to spotlight the demand of uprooted Palestinians and their descendants to return to what is now Israel. Its also seen as a new attempt by Hamas to break a decade-old Gaza border blockade. On Friday, protests quickly spun out of control. Israels military said thousands of Palestinians rolled burning tires and threw stones at forces stationed on the border. Palestinian witnesses said tens of thousands gathered in tent encampments set up at five sites at a distance of several hundred meters (yards) from the border, but that only some of them engaged in clashes. Such mass gatherings near the border signal a new tactic by Hamas — and one that might prove more challenging to Israels military than previous smaller protests. Military officials have said they will respond harshly to any breaches of the border fence. At the same time, a rising number of casualties will likely stoke more border tensions, a scenario Israel hopes to avoid. The sit-ins are seen as a new attempt by Hamas to break a crippling, decade-old Gaza border blockade by Israel that has made it increasingly difficult for the 9group to govern. Other tactics over the years, including Hamas cross-border wars with Israel and attempts to reconcile with political rival Mahmoud Abbas, the West Bank-based Palestinian president, have failed to end Gazas isolation. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum praised the turnout. "The large crowds ... reflect the Palestinian peoples determination to achieve the right of return and break the siege and no force can stop this right," he said. There were also small protests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and about 65 Palestinians were injured. In Gaza, the protest was dubbed "The March of Return" and some of the tents bore names of the refugees original villages in what is now Israel, written in Arabic and Hebrew alike. Citing security concerns, Israel, which withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, blockades the coastal territory, maintaining tight restrictions on the movement of Palestinians and goods across the frontier. Fridays actions are to be the first in a series of protests planned in Gaza in coming weeks. The protests are to culminate on May 15, the 70th anniversary of Israels creation, with a march through the border fence. Palestinians commemorate the date as the anniversary of their mass displacement and uprooting during the 1948 Mideast war over Israels creation. The vast majority of Gaza residents are descendants of Palestinians who fled or were driven from communities in what is now Israel. Israels military said ahead of Fridays protests that it doubled its standard troop level along the border, deploying snipers, special forces and paramilitary border police units, which specialize in riot control. Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, commander of the Israeli militarys Southern Command, which includes the border, said Friday that "we are identifying attempts to carry out terror attacks under the camouflage of riots." He urged Gaza residents to stay away from the border, and held Hamas responsible for any violence there. Previous protests near the border fence in recent months have turned deadly, with Israeli soldiers firing live bullets at Palestinians burning tires, throwing stones or hurling firebombs. On Friday, buses took protesters to the border area, including five tent encampments set up from north to south, several hundred meters from the border fence. By noon, thousands had arrived at the encampments. At one encampment, east of Gaza City, people clustered around the tents. An unpaved road linking the tents and the border fence was filled with people walking in both directions. People ran for cover from time to time to escape tear gas. Ghanem Abdelal, 50, distributed water bottles to family members sitting on a mat near one of the tents. He said he hopes the protest "will bring a breakthrough, an improvement, to our life in Gaza." Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas supreme leader, visited the tents, along with Gaza leader Yehiyeh Sinwar. The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 16-year-old boy and a 33-year-old man were among theose killed. Earlier Friday, in a separate incident, a Palestinian farmer identified as 27-year-old Amr Samour was killed by an Israeli tank shell while he was working in his field before dawn in southern Gaza, the ministry said. Israel said troops had directed tank fire at suspicious figures near the border fence in the area. Yasser Samour, a relative and fellow farmer, said Amr Samour was harvesting parsley before dawn, in hopes of selling it fresh in the market later in the day. "I was working on the next field," Yasser Samour said. "We heard shelling landing on the field where Amr works. We ran there and found him hit directly with a shell. We were more than a kilometer away from the border." Another farmer was wounded in the leg by shrapnel, Samour said.