IDF says it opened fire after finding explosive devices along border fence, is looking into reports of the dead teenager.
By JPOST.COM STAFFIDF soldiers near Gaza border 311 (R)(photo credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen)A 13-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by IDF fire during clashes between the army and Gaza-based terrorist groups on Thursday, Palestinian medical officials said.Palestinian medics said the boy, aged 13, was hit by machine-gun fire, either from IDF helicopters or tanks that took part in the incident.The IDF said that soldiers carrying out a routine operation along the border fence in central Gaza discovered three explosive devices and neutralized them. They then returned fire into an adjacent field.The IDF Spokesman's Office said the reports that IDF fire killed the child were being looked into and examined.Later on Thursday, an IDF soldier was very lightly injured by Palestinian mortar shells fired at an IDF force on the border with southern Gaza.An army source said the force had been carrying out routine security missions when the shelling began. The soldier did not require hospitalization and received treatment on the scene.On Tuesday, an explosion along the border fence in central Gaza injured three IDF soldiers as they were on a routine patrol.Paramedics treated all of the injured soldiers at the scene, two of whom suffered light injuries. The third soldier with moderate injuries was evacuated to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba via helicopter.On Monday, IDF soldiers shot dead a Gazan man who approached the border and ignored soldiers’ orders to stop.Palestinian medical sources said the man suffered from a mental condition.
Last month, terrorists detonated an explosive on the Gaza-Israel border, seriously injuring an IDF company commander, who later lost a hand. The explosive was placed on a gate in the Kissufim region, near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.Yaakov Lappin and Reuters contributed to this report.
