sraeli troops clashed with Arab protesters along three hostile borders today, leaving as many as 12 people dead and dozens wounded in an unprecedented wave of violence.

The clashes come on the anniversary of the mass displacement of Palestinians surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948.

In the most serious incident, the Israeli military said thousands of protesters approached Syria's border with the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. It said hundreds of people burst through the border and soldiers opened fire to stop them. Dozens were wounded and six people were reported killed.

As Israel's prime minister gathered his top advisers for an emergency meeting, officials accused Syria of fomenting the violence in an attempt to divert attention from its deadly crackdown on weeks of protests against the rule of President Bashar Assad.

"The Syrian regime is intentionally attempting to divert international attention away from the brutal crackdown of their own citizens to incite against Israel," said Lt Col Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman.

Fatal clashes also took place along Israel's nearby northern border with Lebanon, as well as in the Gaza Strip, near Israel's southern border.

The unrest came as the Palestinians marked the "nakba", or "catastrophe", the term they use to describe the uprooting suffered at the time of Israel's founding on May 15, 1948.

On Facebook and other websites, activists had urged Palestinians and their supporters in neighbouring countries to march on the border with Israel to mark the day. Security officials tried to block such moves for fear of violence.

In Egypt, the army set up at least 15 checkpoints - guarded by tanks and armoured vehicles - on the road between the Egyptian town of El-Arish and the Gaza border city of Rafah, turning back everyone who was not a resident.

In the fighting over Israel's creation, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were uprooted, and the dispute over the fate of the refugees and their descendants, now numbering several million, remains a key issue in the Middle East conflict.

Israel captured the Golan area from Syria in a 1967 war, and Syria demands the area back as part of any peace deal. Despite hostility between the two countries, the border has been quiet since a 1973 war.

Israeli TV channels broadcast scenes, taken from Arab stations, of what appeared to be thousands of people gathering along the Syrian border with the Golan, with large crowds throwing objects at the fence. Dozens of people could be seen cutting through the fence and crossing to the Israeli side.

In a statement, the Israeli military said "thousands of Syrian civilians" had breached the border.

"IDF forces opened fire in order to prevent the violent rioters from illegally infiltrating Israeli territory, a number of rioters have infiltrated and are violently rioting in the village. From initial reports there are dozens of injured that are receiving medical care in a nearby hospital," the statement said.

Israeli officials confirmed two of those who crossed the Syrian border were dead on the Israeli side and as many as four were reported dead in Syrian territory.

The protesters were believed to be Palestinians who live in refugee camps in Syria. Israel's Channel 2 TV interviewed one of those who crossed, who identified himself as a resident of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria. He said: "I am Palestinian from Nazareth."

The station showed footage, taken by a resident of the Golan border village of Majdal Shams, of what it said was a pro-Palestinian protest walking through the streets of the town.

In late afternoon, Israeli military officials said about 100 people had been caught and were being sent back to Syria. It was not known how many remained.

About 40 kilometres to the west, Israeli troops clashed with a large crowd of Lebanese demonstrators who approached the border. The military said it opened fire when protesters tried to damage the border fence. Lebanese security officials reported four people had been killed.

It was the most serious violence along the volatile border since Israel fought Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas during a month-long war five years ago.

The shooting erupted at the tense border village of Maroun el-Rass, which saw some of the fiercest fighting in 2006.

Thousands of Palestinian refugees had travelled to the village in buses adorned with posters that said: "We are returning." Many came from the 12 crowded refugee camps in Lebanon where some 400,000 Palestinian refugees live.

"Israel may be 63 years old today but its days are numbered," said Abbas Jomaa, 50, who was carrying his 4-year-old son on his shoulders and holding a Palestinian flag. "Sooner or later we will return."

Hundreds of Lebanese soldiers, UN peacekeepers and riot police deployed in the area, taking up positions along the electric border fence and patrolling the area in military vehicles.

Young Hezbollah supporters wearing yellow hats and carrying walkie-talkies organised the entry to the village and handed out Palestinian flags.

In other violence, Palestinian medics said two people were killed and 40 others wounded in a demonstration in the Gaza Strip near the heavily fortified border with Israel. Demonstrations were also reported in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Inside Israel, police were on high alert for disturbances among the country's large Arab minority. In a reflection of the jittery situation, a fatal traffic incident involving an Arab lorry driver in Tel Aviv set off fears that an attack had been carried out.

The lorry ploughed through a crowded street, crashing into a bus, several cars and pedestrians, killing one and injuring 16 others.

Police said the 22-year-old driver claimed it was an accident, but said they were still investigating. "Based on the devastation and debris, we're still examining if it was carried out deliberately," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

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