A Palestinian Arab man was killed and another wounded by Israeli gunfire in the northern Gaza Strip Friday after they approached the border with Israel, a medical official told the AFP news agency.

Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said 27-year-old Mohammad Al-Masri died of his wounds after being shot near the border fence west of the Beit Lahiya area.

Another man was in a moderate condition following the incident, Qudra said.

A spokeswoman for the IDF told AFP that “two suspects approached the security fence of the northern Gaza Strip.”

After one of the figures continued to advance even after they were ordered to halt and warning shots were fired, “the force fired toward the lower extremities of a suspect,” the spokeswoman said.

Gazans have constantly been provoking IDF soldiers stationed near the border fence. These provocations usually take place on Fridays, when Arabs riot near the border fence and attack security forces with rocks.

The soldiers ask the rioters to move back but they ignore the calls and continue to approach the fence, forcing troops to open fire.

A similar incident took place in May, when Israeli troops shot and seriously wounded a 17-year-old Palestinian Arab as he approached the border fence and refused to turn back when asked.

Last December, Gaza’s Interior Ministry said it would deploy security forces on the border with Israel in order to prevent Palestinian Arabs from crossing into Israel from Gaza without documents, but said the decision was not related to incidents along the border.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)