GAZA CITY: Israeli soldiers Sunday shot and wounded four Palestinians as they searched for building materials near Gaza's border with Israel, medical sources and the military said. A 15-year-old boy was among those shot in an area north of the town of Beit Hanun, according to a spokesman for Gaza's emergency services. The Israeli army confirmed its troops fired toward a number of people approaching the border fence after they refused to respond to warning shots. “The troops fired toward their lower bodies and identified several hits,” a spokesman said. Gazans regularly risk injury or death to search for gravel in the ruins of abandoned buildings along the frontier, despite the proximity to a 300-meter (330-yard) Israeli-imposed exclusion zone. Israel says the no-go area is needed to prevent Palestinian snipers and bombers from reaching, and maybe breaching, the border fence. Earlier in the day, militants in northern Gaza fired a rocket into southern Israel but caused no casualties or damage, the army said. – Agence France
