An Israeli man was shot dead on Monday morning while trying to climb a border fence and enter the Gaza Strip, an Israeli military spokesman said.
The man drove to area and parked his car, then tried to climb the border fence.
Border guards called for the man to stop and fired warning shots but he ignored them and continued to climb the fence. The troops then opened fire and killed the man.
According to preliminary reports, the man was mentally unstable.
The spokesman said that this is the first time an Israeli had attempted to cross the border fence into the Gaza Strip. More commonly, Palestinians trying to enter Israel are shot by border guards.
The Ynet news site, citing Israeli officials, said that climbing the fence could be used as an attempt to distract security forces as part of broader terror activity. In such a case the forces would have fired in order to stop the man, not to kill him.
According to the Israel Defense Forces and the Defense Ministry, the force's actions were impeccable despite the unusual nature of the incident.
The Gaza Strip has been the subject of an almost continuous Israeli blockade since Hamas took control of the enclave in the summer of 2007, and an Israeli air and ground offensive at the turn of the year killed some 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians.
TEL AVIV, December 7 (RIA Novosti)
