Jerusalem: Israeli soldiers opened fire on four Palestinians who infiltrated from the Gaza Strip on Monday and sought to set an unmanned sniper post ablaze, killing one of them, the military said.
“Troops spotted the infiltration, monitored the incident and pursued the terrorists while firing towards them,” a military statement said.
“As a result, one terrorist was killed while another was evacuated for medical treatment. A third terrorist was transferred to security forces for further questioning.”
The fourth was believed to have returned to the Gaza Strip with injuries after the incident east of the city of Rafah in the south of the enclave.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza announced a 16-year-old shot in the shoulder by Israeli fire was in hospital, without giving further details.
A Palestinian medic who saw the incident said Israeli forces fired on a group of young men approaching the border.
“We tried to move forward to help (the injured) but the soldiers prevented us and forced us to retreat,” the medic said on condition of anonymity.
Israel’s army said soldiers heard gunshots fired toward them during the incident, but none were wounded.
Since protests and clashes broke out along the Gaza border on March 30, at least 138 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.
The majority were involved in protests and clashes but others were seeking to breach or damage the border fence.
No Israelis have been killed.
On Saturday, thousands of Palestinians attended the funeral of the 11-year-old son of a Hamas military commander killed by Israeli fire in the southern Gaza Strip, with mourners demanding “revenge”.
Yasser Abu al-Naja, whose father is a member of Hamas’s military wing, was shot in the head on Friday in border clashes near the southern city of Khan Yunis.
Agence France-Presse