Israel kills Gaza 'gunman' along border

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian they suspected of trying to plant explosives beneath a fence at the border with Gaza, the Israeli military said Sunday. Soldiers on Sunday recovered the remains of the Palestinian alongside an assault rifle, a statement from the Israeli military spokesperson's office said. "Following a search, conducted this morning, the body was found with an AK-47 rifle," a statement said. "It should be noted that during the past week, IDF soldiers uncovered three explosive devices adjacent to the security fence in the Gaza Strip. All three devices were diffused in a controlled manner." None of the armed groups in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip claimed responsibility for the purported incident on Saturday, which Israel said occurred after dark. The frontier had been relatively quiet since a truce silenced a violent outbreak last month when Israel killed 25 Palestinians, most of them armed, while groups in Gaza fired dozens of rockets that hurt Israeli civilians. The killing of the unidentified Palestinian on Saturday came a day after troops at the border shot dead one person and injured over 30 others as Palestinians marked the annual Land Day anniversary. Mahmoud Zakot, 20, was shot and killed near the Erez crossing, a medical official said. Thirty-one others were injured in that incident and in Khan Younis, six people were hospitalized. Medics said the Israeli army used live fire to prevent protesters from approaching the border.