On Sunday, the Israeli defense minister rejected requests for a formal investigation into the killing of Palestinian 15 by the army during a Palestinian demonstration that became violent on Friday at the border between Gaza and Israel.
Hamas, the dominant Palestinian group in Gaza, said five of the dead were members of its armed wing. Israel said eight of the 15s belonged to Hamas and two others came from other militant factions.
An apparent calm has settled in the border area today, where hundreds of Palestinians, a fraction of the tens of thousands that initially turned out, remained in tent camps along the 65km fenced border.
Organizers expect many to return on Friday, when schools and businesses will be closed for Muslim Saturday and reunite at the planned six-week protest for the right of return of refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and European Union diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, have called for an independent investigation into Friday's bloodshed.
Pope Francis, in an apparent reference to the events of Gaza in his Easter speech, called for "reconciliation for the Holy Land".
Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli defense minister, rejected criticism of Israeli actions, saying that soldiers along the Gaza border "deserve a medal" because they did what was necessary to protect the border.
"As for a commission of inquiry - there will not be one," he told Israeli Army Radio.
The United States blocked a statement by the Security Council of Kuwait and the United Kingdom on Saturday, diplomats said, asking for an independent investigation and urging moderation on all sides.
witness
In a Gaza hospital on Sunday, a Palestinian boy of 12 years hit by Israeli gunshots said that when he approached the border barrier with others in the crowd, he thought he would be safe until he touched the barrier or throw stones.
Hundreds of people ignored calls from protest organizers and the Israeli army to stay away from the border. The military said some of those who were shot fired at soldiers, rolled burning tires and threw stones and fire bombs to the border.
"I was just standing there when I felt something hit me in the leg and pushed me to the ground," the boy, Bashar Wahdan, estimated his distance from the fence to be 30 meters. The bullet cut blood vessels and broke a bone.
At his bedside, Bashar's father said he had no idea his son had gone to protest.
The Israeli armed forces have accused Hamas of "cynically exploiting women and children" by sending them to the fence. A spokesman for Hamas has defined the accusations "lies aimed at justifying the massacres".
On Saturday, Israeli troops who used ammunition and rubber bullets fired and wounded about 70 Palestinians among border protesters, Palestinian officials said. Witnesses said the stones were thrown at the soldiers.
The doctors at the hospital in Shifa, crowded in Gaza, said they were finishing medical operations and waiting for other supplies.
The protest is expected to end on May 15, when the Palestinians mark the "Nakba" or "Catastrophe", or the date on which hundreds of thousands of people fled or were driven from their homes in 1948 and when the state of Israel was created.