Gaza City: A Palestinian man was killed and another wounded by Israeli gunfire in the northern Gaza Strip Friday after they approached the border with Israel, a Palestinian medical official told AFP.
Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said 27-year-old Mohammad al-Masri died of his wounds after being shot near the border fence west of the Beit Lahiya area.
Another man was in a moderate condition following a similar incident, Qudra said.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli army told AFP that "two suspects approached the security fence of the northern Gaza Strip."
After one of the figures continued to advance even after they were ordered to halt and warning shots were fired, "the force fired toward the lower extremities of a suspect," the spokeswoman said.
Israel maintains a security buffer zone along the inside of the Gaza border with limited access for farmers, and it is not uncommon for Palestinians to be shot after approaching the fence.
Earlier on Friday, a Palestinian toddler was burned to death in the West Bank village of Dura in an arson attack by suspected Israeli settlers.
