GAZA/Brussels, March (Reuters) - Israeli troops fired warning shots toward Palestinian youths gathered at the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday, wounding 13 people, health officials said. Tension remained high in the area a day after deadly violence broke out in one of the biggest Palestinian demonstrations there in years. An Israeli military spokesman said he was checking the details of Saturday's unrest. On Friday at least 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces confronting protesters, some of whom the military said had opened fire, rolled burning tires and hurled rocks and fire bombs toward troops across the border. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Saturday a national day of mourning and a general strike was called across the occupied West Bank. Thousands in Gaza marched through the streets at funerals for those killed. Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on Friday along the fenced 65-km (40-mile) frontier, where tents were erected for a planned six-week protest pressing for a right of return for refugees and their descendents to what is now Israel. The Israeli military estimate was 30,000. The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini on Saturday called for an independent investigation into the use of live ammunition by Israel's military following clashes in Gaza that left 16 Palestinians dead. "The EU mourns the loss of life. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims," Mogherini said in a statement a day after the clashes, which also left hundreds wounded. "The use of live ammunition should, in particular, be part of an independent and transparent investigation," she said. "Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are fundamental rights that must be respected," added Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister who speaks on behalf of the European Union's 28 member states. The EU call for a probe echoed UN chief Antonio Guterres who also called for an "independent and transparent investigation."
