Gazan, 18, said killed by IDF while approaching border fence

A Palestinian was reportedly killed and two others were said to be injured by Israeli tank fire while nearing the Gaza border with Israel overnight, the IDF said Wednesday.

The three Palestinians tried to approach the border fence near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip when they came under fire by Israeli troops, according to an army spokesperson.

“Youssef Abou Azra, 18, was killed and two other Palestinians injured by artillery fire by the occupier (Israel) to the east of Rafah,” the large city to the south of the Gaza Strip, said Achraf al-Qodra, spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army said soldiers spotted three men “close to the security fence and opened fire in their direction,” without giving further details.

The injured Palestinians — one seriously hurt, the other moderately — were taken to a hospital in Rafah, the Hamas-run health ministry said.

It was not immediately clear why they were nearing the fence. Israel maintains a buffer zone next to the fence to prevent bombs from being placed and Gazans from attempting to cross into Israel, at times shooting at those who come to the close to the barrier.

Tensions between Israel and terrorist groups in Gaza have been running high recently, following a number of shooting and rocket attacks from the Strip against Israelis, and retaliatory airstrikes and shellings by the IDF.

Earlier this month, Israeli soldiers located and disarmed two improvised explosive devices near the security fence surrounding the northern Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said that one of its fighters was lightly injured in by an Israeli tank attack at an “observation post” near where the IEDs were found.

The incident early Wednesday came as some 2,000 reserve soldiers were called up this week to simulate war in the Gaza Strip, as part of the military’s largest planned exercise of 2017, the army said. The surprise drill began on Sunday. It was conducted by the Sinai Division, the Southern Command’s reserve division. The exercise included four reserve brigades — two infantry and two armored brigades.

The soldiers simulated war in Gaza, including a ground invasion into the Hamas-run coastal enclave.

The surprise drill was in addition to a smaller exercise conducted by the IDF’s Home Front Command in southern Israel this week.

The IDF spokesperson said the exercises were planned in advance and not tied to recent tensions with Gaza and jihadists in Sinai.

On Saturday, two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel. One exploded near the city of Ashkelon, north of Gaza, causing no casualties or damage. The second apparently fell inside Palestinian territory.

The Israel Defense Forces responded with tank fire and airstrikes at several Hamas targets in the Strip. There were no reports of casualties.

Two days before, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck in an empty field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council near Netivot.

In response, Israeli jets struck two Hamas installations in the north of the Gaza Strip.

AFP contributed to this report.