Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – President Mahmud Abbas called on Monday for Palestinians to keep their children from protests along the border between Israel and Gaza, warning of a “handicapped” generation.

“Keep the young men from the border, move the children away, we do not want to become handicapped people,” he said in a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah, while supporting what he called “peaceful” protests.

Forty-eight Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured by Israeli fire since regular protests and clashes broke out along the Gaza border on March 30.