Israeli troops wound boy in Gaza: Palestinians

GAZA CITY - Agence France-Presse

Palestinians inspect a warehouse which caught fire after an Israeli air strike near by in Gaza City, Wednesday, March 14, 2012. AP Photo

Israeli troops wounded a six-year-old Palestinian boy today when they opened fire east of the town of Rafah, in southern Gaza, Palestinian medical sources said.
 
"A six-year-old Palestinian child was wounded by Israeli army gunfire near the Kerem Shalom crossing, east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, which is where the family lives," emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya told AFP.
 
"He is in moderate condition and was shot with live fire in his thigh," he added.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the incident and said it was checking on the report.
 
The shooting occurred near the Israeli border, where the military maintains an exclusion zone that extends several hundred metres inside the Gaza Strip, which it says is necessary to prevent infiltrations into the Jewish state.
 
Troops regularly open fire on Palestinians who enter the area, including children working or playing in the zone.
 
The shooting came amid a tense truce that ended four days of fighting between Israel and Gaza militants.

The Egyptian-mediated truce was announced on Tuesday, and was accepted by both sides, though sporadic rocket fire into Israel and Israeli strikes on Gaza have continued.
 
The four-day outbreak of violence began with Israel's assassination of a Palestinian militant commander and saw Gaza militants fire hundreds of rockets into the southern region of the Jewish state.

Israel launched dozens of air strikes during the conflict, killing 25 people.