Palestinian wounded by Israeli fire into Gaza

A Palestinian man was wounded by Israeli gunfire east of El- Bureij in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian medical sources said. They said the 32-year-old was in moderate condition after being shot in the chest. An Israeli army spokeswoman said that "during the day IDF (Israel defence forces) soldiers acted in order to distance several suspects who approached the security fence in the central Gaza Strip." The spokeswoman noted the security fence is "an area in which terrorists plant explosive devices, such as the one that detonated last week on an IDF vehicle." She added the soldiers had not "identified" any hits from their fire. Four Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and more than 100 wounded since the November 21 ceasefire between the Jewish state and Gaza's Hamas rulers, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Under the terms of the Egypt-mediated truce, Palestinians are supposed to have access to arable land in a buffer zone up to 100 metres (yards) from the border fence. Israel allows "civilian access on foot to areas up to 100 metres from the perimeter fence for agricultural purposes only, and vehicular access to a distance of 300 metres," the OCHA report states.