Palestinian shot after he crossed Gaza border, brandished knife at soldiers

A Palestinian man crossed the Gaza border fence and threatened IDF soldiers with a knife on Monday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

In a statement, the army said the man was seen crossing the border. A unit dispatched to intercept him saw him brandish a knife as they approached. The soldiers opened fire at the man’s legs, wounding him.

He was treated by army medics at the scene and was rushed to an unspecified nearby hospital.

The incident took place along the border fence on the southern end of the Gaza Strip, near Al-Bureij, at approximately 11 a.m.

It followed violence last week along the Israel-Gaza border.

Two projectiles were fired Thursday from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes by the Israeli military against Hamas positions.

Israel last week announced it had restricted the permitted fishing zone off the coast of the Gaza Strip to 10 nautical miles in response to the rocket fire, which came a day after an Israeli aircraft fired at and hit an armed Palestinian who approached the border fence. The military said Wednesday that the Palestinian man was spotted by IDF observation posts as he neared the security fence in southern Gaza. Authorities in the Hamas-run Strip did not comment on the Palestinian suspect’s condition.

Footage of the incident, which was later distributed by the IDF, showed the suspect approaching the security fence armed with what appears to be an assault rifle. The video ends before the airstrike.

On Friday several thousand Palestinians protested on the Gaza border as part of the weekly March of Return protests, including several hundred rioting and clashing with Israeli forces, as the coastal enclave’s Hamas rulers marked 32 years since the founding of the terror group. In addition to the border clashes, thousands took part in rallies in Gaza over the weekend to mark the 1987 anniversary of the terror group’s establishment.