Israeli Gunfire Wounds Gaza Youth near Border

A Palestinian youth was shot and wounded Thursday by Israeli soldiers near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip, sources on both sides told Agence France Presse.

Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the emergency services in the Islamist Hamas-run enclave, told AFP soldiers shot a 16-year-old in the leg east of Jabalia.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army confirmed the shooting incidents, saying that soldiers identified "a number of suspects" damaging the border fence.

She said the soldiers asked them to halt "numerous times but the suspects continued vandalizing the fence", she said.

"Soldiers then resorted to aiming fire at the individuals' lower extremities," she said. "Soldiers at the scene reported one hit."

On Sunday, Palestinians said two people were wounded by Israeli tanks in central Gaza.

Exchanges of fire between the sides peaked last Tuesday, when a sniper inside Gaza killed an Israeli fixing the border fence.

Israel retaliated against "terror sites" in Gaza with warplanes and tanks, killing a toddler and wounding at least six people.