The Israeli army remained on high alert along the border of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with Syria, a spokeswoman said Monday morning.
Syrian authorities said 23 people were killed and 350 injured when Israeli snipers opened fire Sunday on Palestinian and Syrian protesters who tried to force their way through the border, DPA reported.
The army said it had called over loudspeakers in Arabic ordering protesters to stay clear of the armistice line, warning that anyone who tried to climb or cut through the security fence risked being shot. The army said the snipers aimed at the legs first.
The soldiers remained under strict instructions Monday not to allow anyone to violate the border.
The spokeswoman in Tel Aviv would not comment on the casualties reported by Syria, saying Israel had no ability to verify them.
She said three to four landmines had exploded when a fire ignited in a field after a protestors threw a Molotov cocktail, causing an unknown number of casualties.
Most of the hundreds of protesters, who were marking the 44th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1967 war, left the border area late Sunday after the day of deadly confrontations.
But a cluster of people stayed overnight, making more efforts to approach the Israeli-controlled lines under cover of darkness and lighting bonfires vowing to continue the protests, witnesses said.