Israeli troops kill Palestinian near Gaza security fence

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager near the border fence with the Gaza Strip on Friday, Palestinian officials said, Reuters reports.

Local residents said a few dozen Palestinians had approached the border fence, an area in which Israel’s military, citing security concerns, enforces a “no go” zone. Some in the crowd hurled stones at the barrier, residents said.

One 16-year-old was killed and four other people were wounded by live fire, Gaza’s health ministry said.

An Israeli army spokesman said he was checking the report.

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Israeli soldiers have been confronted by frequent Palestinian protests that often turn violent along the Gaza border. They have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition against demonstrators who the military said hurled rocks or petrol bombs at them.

The organisers of those massive protests said they had called off this week’s demonstration.

Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations have been working to keep the border calm.

Gaza officials say about 210 Palestinians have been killed since the weekly protests began in March 2018. In that time an Israeli soldier was also shot dead by a Palestinian sniper along the frontier and another was killed during an undercover raid into Gaza. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi Editing by Gareth Jones)