Gaza border fence
Gaza border fenceFlash 90

Israeli troops shot and seriously wounded a 17-year-old Palestinian Arab in northern Gaza on Friday, Palestinian Arab medics said, according to the AFP news agency.

The youth, whose name was not immediately released, was hit in the head north of Beit Lahiya near the border with Israel, Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the IDF told AFP that the shot teen was one of a group of Palestinians nearing the border fence, where Israel maintains a no-go zone.

"A group of Palestinians was identified approaching the security fence, in the northern Gaza Strip," she said.

An army patrol sent to investigate, "called on the suspects to halt, firing warning shots in the air. When they refused to comply the force fired at a main instigator's lower extremities and a hit was identified," she added.

Gazans have constantly been provoking IDF soldiers stationed near the border fence. These provocations usually take place on Fridays, when Arabs riot near the border fence and attack security forces with rocks.

The soldiers ask the rioters to move back but they ignore the calls and continue to approach the fence, forcing troops to open fire.

Last December, Gaza’s Interior Ministry said it would deploy security forces on the border with Israel in order to prevent Palestinian Arabs from crossing into Israel from Gaza without documents, but said the decision was not related to incidents along the border.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)