, ▁Ham as , ▁Palest in ian ▁Islam ic ▁J ih ad , ▁the ▁Popular ▁Front ▁for ▁the ▁Liber ation ▁of ▁Palest ine ▁and ▁the ▁fa ction ▁of ▁Muhammad ▁D ahl an ▁( who ▁was ▁exp elled ▁from ▁F ata h ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 1 ) ▁had ▁end ors ed ▁the ▁protest s . ▁ ▁The ▁organiz ers ▁of ▁the ▁event , ▁including ▁the ▁local ▁government ▁authority , ▁Ham as ▁and ▁various ▁Palest in ian ▁fa ctions , ▁had ▁encourag ed ▁thousands ▁of ▁Palest ini ans ▁to ▁conver ge ▁on ▁the ▁Isra eli ▁border ▁for ▁the ▁ 4 2 nd ▁anni versary , ▁in ▁what ▁was ▁dub bed ▁the ▁" Gre at ▁March ▁of ▁Return ". ▁While ▁multiple ▁fa ctions ▁had ▁end ors ed ▁the ▁protest s , ▁they ▁had ▁all ▁participated ▁under ▁the ▁shared ▁symbol ▁of ▁the ▁Palest in ian ▁national ▁flag . ▁ ▁Tim eline ▁ ▁Prior ▁inc idents ▁ ▁In ▁February ▁ 2 0 1 8 , ▁four ▁ID F ▁soldiers ▁were ▁injured ▁by ▁an ▁explos ive ▁device ▁conce aled ▁in ▁a ▁Palest in ian ▁flag ▁placed ▁on ▁the ▁Gaz an ▁border ▁f ence ▁during ▁a ▁Palest in ian ▁protest . ▁ ▁On ▁ 2 5 ▁March , ▁the ▁ID F ▁fired ▁some ▁ten ▁Iron ▁D ome ▁miss iles ▁to ▁intercept ▁what ▁the ▁ID F ▁sens ors ▁interpreted ▁to ▁be ▁rock ets , ▁but ▁which ▁later ▁turned ▁out ▁to ▁be ▁high - tra ject ory ▁machine - gun ▁fire ▁during ▁Ham as ▁military ▁exer cis es ▁conducted ▁in