One Palestinian killed in southern Gaza clash (Roundup)

Nov 28, 2008, 12:23 GMT

Gaza/Tel Aviv - Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian militants in the south-eastern Gaza Strip near the border with Israel Friday, killing one and injuring at least two others, witnesses said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israeli soldiers were on a routine patrol along the border fence, north-east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, when they identified a number of Palestinian militants who tried to place explosives near the fence.

She said the militants opened fire at the Israeli patrol, which returned fire and claimed to have hit one of them.

She said the militants also fired at least three mortar shells at the Israeli force during the confrontation.

The latest clash comes after the sides made attempts over the past week to restore a fragile informal truce between the radical Islamic Hamas ruling Gaza and Israel, which has been thrown into doubt since a November 4 clash near the Gaza border with Israel that left at least five Hamas militants dead and sparked a new wave of rocket and mortar attacks at southern Israel.

Since Thursday last week, the rocket attacks had dropped again to an average of one a day, but this Thursday the number rose again to three rockets.

Israel had responded to the new wave of violence by slapping a near-total closure on Gaza, preventing all but the most basic humanitarian aid from entering the enclave. Also journalists have not been allowed into the strip for the past three weeks, with international media protesting the Israeli move as 'unprecedented' and a 'serious violation of press freedom.'

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak decided to keep the border closed again Friday, after three rockets landed in Israel Thursday.

The closure has led to on and off power blackouts as well as a shortage in Gaza of many products, including meat and dairy.