Gazan Wounded by Israeli Gunfire on Border

A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip was wounded by Israeli gunfire on Saturday evening after approaching the border fence, sources on both sides said.

A Hamas health ministry official told Agence France Presse, without elaborating, that the man was hit east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza by Israeli tank fire.

Eyewitnesses said Israeli tanks and one bulldozer were near the border at the time.

The army confirmed the incident, with a spokeswoman telling Agence France Presse "a suspect approached the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip and was engaged in suspicious activity along the fence."

Troops requested that he halt, and when he did not they opened fire at his "lower extremities," and "a hit was confirmed," she said.

Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the southern Palestinian enclave, are committed to an Egyptian-brokered truce ending a major eight-day confrontation in November 2012.