Palestinian teen killed by Israeli fire in Gaza

A Palestinian teenager died on Thursday after being hit by bullets fired from an Israeli helicopter near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, a medical official told AFP. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, named the victim as 13-year-old Hmeid Abu Daqqa, and said he had been killed near the border. "Thirteen-year-old Hmeid Yunes Abu Daqqa was killed by bullets fired from an Israeli helicopter during an incursion in Abasan and Al-Qarara," he said, referring to two neighbourhoods east of Khan Yunis. Witnesses confirmed that Israeli helicopters had opened fire as Israeli tanks carried out an incursion east of the city. Palestinian gunmen fired mortar rounds at the tanks, sparking a brief exchange of fire, they said. The Israeli army could not immediately confirm details of the incident. However, a military source did say a soldier was wounded in clashes with Palestinians near the security barrier in southern Gaza. "A soldier was very slightly wounded when attackers fired a rocket at an army patrol near the security barrier level with the Nirim kibbutz," the source said. "Previously, automatic fire was aimed at soldiers who responded in the direction of the attackers."