JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Saturday that it was shutting down its main cargo crossing into Gaza after Palestinian protesters caused extensive damage to it, and that it had also destroyed an attack tunnel militants dug near its main pedestrian crossing.

The twin developments come ahead of a potentially charged week along the Israel-Gaza border as weekly protests being staged there are expected to culminate with a potential breach of the border and a surge in casualties.

Once again, thousands of Palestinians protested Friday in various locations along the frontier. Later, a group of Palestinians burned a fuel complex and conveyor belt on their side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, causing more than $9 million in damages and disrupting the import of diesel fuel and building materials, the military said.

It said the attack rendered the main fuel and gas lines unusable and caused further damage to electrical infrastructure and other vital equipment.

The military said the Kerem Shalom crossing will be closed until further notice and not before the damage is repaired.

A lengthy closing of the crossing would deliver further devastation to Gaza’s already dire humanitarian crisis. The fuel installation is the only way to bring diesel fuel into Gaza for operating generators for hospitals and other key facilities.

The military distributed a video showing Palestinians cheering as a fire was set. It was the second such attack on the facility in a week, it said.

‘‘Hamas continues to lead the residents of Gaza to destroy the only assistance they receive,’’ the army said.

Late Saturday, the military carried out several airstrikes in the northern Gaza strip, near the Erez border crossing, to destroy a Hamas tunnel that was being built there. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the tunnel was being tracked for weeks and had been destroyed just a few feet inside Gaza.

Hamas called the airstrikes a ‘‘failed attempt’’ to prevent its protests.

‘‘Our people’s response will come on Monday by marching’’ to the fence, it said in a statement.

Conricus said both incidents proved Israel’s longstanding claim that Hamas, and other militant groups, were merely using the popular mass protests as cover for attacks against Israel. He said the military was doubling its troops along the border in advance of this week’s protests and said Israel would not allow the area to become an active combat zone.

‘‘This really shows the cynicism of the Hamas terror organization toward the citizens they are supposed to care for,’’ Conricus told reporters. ‘‘Hamas is killing Gaza with its terrorist activities against civilian facilities.’’

Palestinians in Gaza have been staging weekly protests at the border fence against a ­decade-old blockade of the territory. The demonstrations have been organized by Gaza’s Hamas rulers but are fueled by despair among the territory’s 2 million residents. The vast majority are barred from travel and trade, while the blockade has gutted the economy.

A Palestinian was killed and 175 were wounded by Israeli army fire Friday. The Palestinian health ministry said a teenage boy died Saturday after he was shot in the head by Israeli fire on the Gaza-Israel border.

The death raises to 42 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since weekly protests began March 30. More than 1,800 have been wounded.

The coming week could see a further uptick in violence, as Palestinians are planning much larger protests to coincide with the United States relocating its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem on Monday and the 70th anniversary of their ‘‘nakba,’’ or catastrophe — referring to their mass uprooting during the Mideast war over Israel’s 1948 creation — on Tuesday.

In a separate development Saturday, a Syria war monitoring group said the wave of Israeli strikes on suspected military positions in Syria last week killed 42 people, including at least 19 Iranians.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll from attacks early Thursday has risen from 23 to 27, including at least 11 Iranians and six Syrian soldiers, including three officers.

In total, 42 people, including 19 Iranians, were killed over two days of strikes — from Tuesday to Thursday — according to the Observatory.

The escalation between Israel and Iran has raised fears the region may be sliding into an unprecedented direct confrontation between the two archenemies.