ISRAEL’S army says it killed three Palestinians last night, one who apparently tried to cross the border from the besieged Gaza strip and two who it said had successfully done so and attacked soldiers.

It also said it had detained three more Palestinians trying to cross.

The killings follow those of 39 people peacefully protesting along the Gaza border over recent Fridays, demanding the right of return to their ancestral homes on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from what became the state of Israel.

Despite the army previously having bragged of knowing where “every bullet” ended up and a radio interview with an Israeli Defence Force reservist brigadier general which said children were deliberately targeted by troops, an unidentified officer claimed in the Haaretz newspaper yesterday that the “overwhelming majority” of deaths were unintentional.

Soldiers aimed at people’s legs, but people got hit elsewhere when they bent down, he explained.