One of the 17 wounded by Israel's military during the Karni protest against the Gaza blockade [AFP]

An estimated 2,000 Palestinians were protesting on Thursday against the Israeli blockade of the territory.
 
The shooting occurred within a few hours of a lorry-bomb attack near the Erez crossing, that left the assailant dead but caused no injuries, according to Israeli public radio.
 
At least three boys aged 12 to 15 were among the wounded, including one who was in a critical condition, said Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services.
 
He said the man who died of bullet wounds was 22 years old.
 
Erez bombing

The Erez and Karni crossings with Israel where incidents took place on Thursday

The morning began with the lorry-bomb attack at the Erez crossing.
 
According to Israeli media reports, Israeli soldiers opened fire at the vehicle as it was approaching the terminal.
 
Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad, said the group had carried out the attack in co-operation with the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an offshoot of the Fatah faction.

Abu Ahmed said the lorry was carrying four tonnes of explosives. He identified the suicide bomber as 23-year-old Ibrahim Nasser from Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip.
 
The driver of the lorry was killed in the blast.
 
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the lorry exploded on the Palestinian side of the frontier, blowing out windows in nearby buildings.
 
She said two other men involved in the attack were killed when two missiles launched from an Israeli helicopter destroyed their getaway vehicle.
 

Gaza incursion

Separately, but at the time of the Erez bombing, Israeli troops raided a village in the central Gaza Strip and shot dead a 63-year-old man, medical workers and Hamas said.

An Israeli military spokesman had no immediate information on the incident.

Israel frequently carries out raids and air strikes in the Gaza Strip as part of what it describes as efforts to curb cross-border rocket fire.

The incidents follow inconclusive ceasefire talks between Egyptian and Hamas officials in Cairo.

Hamas has demanded the crossings be reopened in return for a cessation of violence that has threatened to undermine peace talks between Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister.

"Resistance is strong and we are not begging for calm," Abu Ahmed said after the attack.

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