ISRAELI FORCES KILL PALESTINIAN MAN AT BORDER

The body of Anwar Qdeih in funeral procession after his assassination by Israeli border guards.

SHOOTING MARKS FIRST DEATH SINCE CEASEFIRE

By  Common Dreams

 
November 23, 2012 

Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian man and wounded 15 more at the Gaza border on Friday, only two days after a truce brought an end to 8 days of fighting.

An Israeli soldier gestures as Palestinians stand close to the fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on Friday. (Photo: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters) The death is the first reported killing since the ceasefire took effect

Reuters reports:

Health officials said Anwar Qdeih, 23, was shot in the head by Israeli gunfire after he approached the security fence that runs between Israel and Gaza ~ an area that Israel has long declared a no-go zone for Palestinians.

A relative of Qdeih told Reuters that the man was trying to place a Hamas flag on the fence when Israeli troops fired three times into the air and then shot him.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers fired the shots to push back about 300 Palestinians who were gathered along the fence and attempting to cross the border.

The Israel Defense Force said it fired warning shots at a group of Palestinians walking toward the border fence, and then fired at their legs when they did not respond, according to the BBC.

Details of how the ceasefire will be implemented in the border region have not yet been worked out.

Both sides claimed the other had broken the ceasefire, and Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas "will raise this violation with Egyptian mediators to make sure that it does not happen again.