Israel troops shoot Palestinians at Gaza border

JERUSALEM: Israeli troops fired on two Palestinians near the Gaza Strip border on Wednesday, likely killing one and wounding the other, the military and witnesses said.

Troops identified the Palestinians apparently trying to breach the fence and opened fire, a military spokesman said.

"Apparently one Palestinian was killed and the second was injured," he said.

Palestinian witnesses said two Palestinians were seen near the border when Israeli soldiers opened fire.

Palestinian rescue services were not immediately able to reach the men after dark in the area along the fence, declared a no-go zone by Israeli soldiers who regularly open fire, fearing attempts to place bombs or infiltrate Israel.

Also on Wednesday, militants fired seven projectiles, most of them mortar shells, into Israel without causing damage or casualties, the army said.

They struck in the Eshkol region, which flanks the northeastern sector of the Israel-Gaza border.

Gaza militants have fired dozens of rockets and mortar rounds into southern Israel in recent months, causing damage and light injuries on several occasions.

Israel routinely responds to such firing with retaliatory air raids targeting what the military says are training sites, weapons facilities and smuggling tunnels.

Late on Tuesday, the air force attacked two targets in Gaza in response to a rocket attack earlier in the day, which had damaged some greenhouses in southern Israel.