JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian on Thursday after he crossed the border from Gaza and fired at the troops, wounding three of them, the Israeli military said.
During the incident, a military statement said, an Israeli tank targeted a post belonging to Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that runs the Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of any Palestinian casualties as a result of the tank fire.
In the statement, the military said an "assailant fired at the troops" after he infiltrated through Israel's security fence along the Gaza frontier.
"The troops ... responded with fire towards him, resulting in the assailant's death," it said. "An officer was moderately injured and two other combat soldiers were lightly injured as a result of the attacker's fire."
On Friday, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian during weekly protests at the Gaza border, health officials in the Palestinian territory said.
Commenting on that incident, the Israeli military said thousands of Palestinians had gathered along the frontier and that some in the crowd hurled explosive devices and grenades towards the border fence.
Gaza officials say about 210 Palestinians have been killed since the protests began more than a year ago. In that time an Israeli soldier was also shot dead by a Palestinian sniper along the frontier and another was killed during an undercover raid into Gaza.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)