A Gaza Health Ministry spokesman said a Palestinian farmer was killed and another man wounded early Friday by Israeli tank shelling near the town of Khan Yunis, just hours ahead of mass protests.
Witnesses said the farmer was working his land when the shell hit, according to the French News Agency.
An Israeli army spokesman said, "Two suspects approached the security fence along the southern Gaza Strip and began operating suspiciously." He said, "In response a [Israeli] tank fired towards them."
The dead man has been identified at Omar Samour. He was 27 years old.
The Jerusalem Post reports 20 people were wounded in separate incidents Friday.
The region is bracing as Palestinians mount protest tent camps along the entire length of the Gaza Strip in five locations that are expected to remain in place for six weeks. Whole families - men, women, and children - are expected to participate in the tent camp demonstrations.
The demonstrations, ending on May 15, are designed to commemorate the Nakba or "catastrophe" when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had to flee their land or were expelled during the war in 1948 that lead to the creation of Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman warned the Gaza demonstrators in an Arabic post on Twitter: "The leadership of Hamas is playing with your lives. Anyone who comes close to the fence today puts himself at risk. I suggest to you to continue your lives and not participate in a provocation."
Israel has deployed more than 100 snipers along the Gaza Strip.
The demonstrations are expected to lead up to the time when the U.S. plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem, a move that has infuriated Palestinians who have claimed the eastern section of the city as the capital of their future state.
On Thursday, Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the U.N., said the demonstration is an "organized planned provocation" and asserted "Israel's right to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens."
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