IDF kills Palestinian near Hebron holy site, air force bombs Gaza smuggling tunnels

Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed a Palestinian man last night near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron. Earlier yesterday the Israel Air Force bombed three tunnels used for smuggling along the Gaza-Egypt border, injuring four people.

An IDF soldier was lightly wounded by shrapnel from his fellow-soldier's weapon in the Hebron incident. The Tomb of the Patriarchs is revered by both Muslims and Jews.

It is unclear whether the soldiers shot the man because he refused to follow their orders to halt, or if he in fact opened fired on them first.

The IDF confirmed the Gaza airstrike, which came hours after militants in the Gaza Strip launched three mortar shells at the western Negev.

The three shells that hit the Negev marked a recent upsurge in border violence after a two-week lull. They exploded in the Sha'ar Hanegev region, causing neither casualties nor damage.

The attack came one day after The New York Times published an interview with Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, whose Islamist group controls Gaza, in which he said gunmen in the coastal strip had unilaterally ceased cross border attacks.