Israeli forces shot dead on Tuesday a Palestinian on the Gaza border, the Health Ministry in the coastal enclave announced. The ministry identified the dead man as 25-year-old Ahmed Arafa, saying he was shot in the chest during clashes east of Bureij in central Gaza. “He was standing next to me; he posed no danger to them but they killed him,” his father, Omar, told Reuters. The Israeli army said it was looking into the incident and could not immediately comment. It was the first death since at least 17 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops on Friday when a protest by tens of thousands of people resulted in clashes. It was the deadliest day since the 2014 war between Israel and the Hamas movement in Gaza. Smaller protests have continued since, with thousands expected to take to the streets again on Friday. Israels use of live fire has come under criticism from rights groups, while the European Union and UN chief Antonio Guterres have called for an independent investigation. But earlier Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a new warning. “I warn (Gaza protesters) against continuing the provocation. We have set clear game rules and we do not intend to change them. Every person who comes close to the fence is endangering their lives,” he said on a visit to the border. “This was a well-organized provocation by Hamas’s armed wing in an attempt to harm our sovereignty, to disrupt daily life and to disturb Israelis on their Seder (traditional Passover meal) night. We are doing what we must do.” Israel has defended its soldiers actions on Friday, saying they opened fire only when necessary against those throwing stones and firebombs or rolling tires at soldiers. Lieberman has characterized most of those killed last week as “terrorists that we know well who are active in the armed wing of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They were not innocent civilians who were part of a civil protest”. Palestinians say protesters were fired on while posing no threat to soldiers. Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said Fridays killings were unlawful and "calculated," also saying the border protests posed no immediate threat to Israeli soldiers. Tens of thousands of Palestinians began a six-week-long protest last Friday in tent encampments set up along Gaza’s fenced border. They are pressing for a right of return for refugees to the villages and towns where their families lived before 1948 in what is now Israel. “We were saddened by the martyrdom of 16 of us, some of them we knew as friends. This Friday we shall rise to challenge the occupation which killed them, and show them we are not afraid,” said Issa Abu Jamea’, 29, from Khan Younis in Gaza’s south. He said he had taken part in protests every Friday since US President Donald Trump’s December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and to move the US Embassy to the city. Palestinian organizers said they expect the number of participants to again swell to tens of thousands on Friday.