Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager and wounded seven others Friday during clashes near the border fence in Gaza, said the health ministry of the Hamas movement that rules the enclave.

Abdulrahman Abu Hmeisa, 16, was killed in the clashes east of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

He said seven others were also wounded by Israeli gunfire by the border fence.

An army spokeswoman, contacted by AFP, said soldiers opened fire at demonstrators trying to damage the security fence that separates the Jewish state from the Palestinian territory, without being able to confirm the casualties.

Warning shot were initially fired as protesters set fire to tyres and hurled stones, she said.

The clashes erupted after hundreds of youths reached the border area in response to a call by Hamas for protests to take place in solidarity with Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions have been high over the past few weeks due to a dispute over controversial security measures at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site.

source: AFP