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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian man was shot and injured on Thursday by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip, medics said.

Medics told Ma'an that the man was shot near a cemetery east of Jabaliya and was taken in an ambulance to the hospital in moderate condition, without providing further details.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that a number of Palestinians approached the Israel-Gaza border fence and "began damaging it" on Thursday afternoon. After asking the men to stop "several times" the Israeli soldiers "resorted to aiming fire at their lower extremities," identifying one hit.

The spokeswoman did not provide any information as to how the Palestinians were damaging the separation barrier.

The shooting comes approximately a week after an upheaval in violence in the Gaza Strip left two dead and several injured.

On Dec. 24, Israeli airstrikes killed a 3-year-old Palestinian girl and injured several others after a Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli civil defense employee working at the border.

Two days later, two more Palestinians were injured in Israeli airstrikes, after two rockets fired from Gaza hit open Israeli areas, causing no injuries or damage.

On Saturday, Israeli tank fire injured two more Palestinians in central Gaza in an attack that was unconfirmed by the Israeli army but nonetheless made international headlines.

An Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement was reached in November 2012 between Palestinian factions and Israel to end over a week of fighting which left over 170 Palestinians dead and more than a thousand injured. Six Israelis were also killed during the fighting.

Since the agreement, Israeli forces have shot dozens of Gazans in border areas, and have launched frequent incursions.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the Israel since 2006.
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