Israeli soldiers shoot Israeli who climbed over Gaza border fence

Tel Aviv - Israeli soldiers at the border between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip shot dead an Israeli citizen who climbed over a security fence into Palestinian territory, the military said Monday. "The security personnel called on the man to stop and fired several warning shots," a military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said. She said the guards shot at his lower body, the man died of his wounds shortly afterward.

Israel Radio reported that the man, aged around 30, was probably mentally disabled.

The military spokeswoman, however, could give no details about his identity, saying only that he was a Jewish Israeli.

The overnight incident occurred at the Erez border crossing, north of Gaza City.

Since the capture in June 2006 by Palestinian militants of an Israeli soldier who is still being held in Gaza, Israel has imposed a near-constant economic blockade and closure on the coastal enclave. The blockade was further tightened after the radical Islamist Hamas movement seized sole control of the strip in June 2007.

The Israeli government and military do not allow the entry of Israeli citizens into the strip.