Palestinian fisherman shot dead near Gaza border despite ceasefire

An Israeli army spokeswoman said "troops recognised a number of suspects who approached the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip".

"When one of the suspects approached the security fence, (Israeli) troops fired toward him in accordance with the standard operation procedures," she said.

Israel and the militant group Hamas that runs the Gaza Strip reached a ceasefire deal on Tuesday to end the worst escalation between them since a 2014 war.

Palestinian militants fired 460 rockets and mortars into Israel in a 24-hour period, while the Israeli military carried out airstrikes on 160 Gaza targets. Seven Palestinians, including five militants, were killed. In Israel, one person was killed in a rocket strike and three were critically wounded.

The fighting was triggered by a botched Israeli raid on Sunday that left seven Palestinian militants and a senior Israeli military officer dead.

The Sunday raid involved an Israeli commando unit on an undercover mission that was caught behind enemy lines in Gaza. Hamas and other militant groups responded with a wave of rocket attacks the following day.

Before this week's airstrikes and rocket attacks, Palestinians have staged near-weekly border protests since March calling for a right of return to lands their families were expelled from during the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

They are also calling for an end to the decade-old Israeli blockade that will make Gaza "unlivable" by 2020, according to the UN.

At least 220 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the March protests began, a move that has drawn considerable international criticism for Israel's shooting of unarmed people. 

Over the same period, one Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper.

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