Israeli troops wound 2 in barrier protest
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Israeli soldiers watch demonstrators Friday protesting a barrier Israel is building along the West Bank.
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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli troops wounded two demonstrators Friday afternoon in a protest against a barrier under construction along the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces said.
About 200 protesters began climbing and cutting the fence in an attempt to get to the Israeli side, the IDF said.
Israeli soldiers fired warning shots and then opened fire when protesters continued to advance, the IDF said.
An Israeli man was in serious condition. A female foreign tourist was slightly wounded, according to Israeli officials.
The incident occurred at the Palestinian village of Masha near Qalqilya in the West Bank. Israel's GOC Central Command is investigating the incident.
Israel said it is building the barrier to keep terrorists from entering from the West Bank. Palestinian officials have characterized the move as a land grab by the Israelis.
The West Bank and Gaza remain closed to Palestinians trying to enter Israel after a suicide attack Thursday killed four people and wounded 20 outside Tel Aviv.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility.
The PFLP is a Palestinian militant group that has committed international terrorist attacks and conducted attacks against Israeli or moderate Arab targets, according to the U.S. State Department. It claimed responsibility for the killing of Israeli Cabinet member Rechavam Ze'evi in October 2001.
Thursday's attack was the first suicide bombing in Israel since an October 4 bombing in Haifa that killed 21 people.
There has been relative calm since the Haifa bombing, but Avi Pazner, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel has foiled about 35 attempted attacks in the past two months.
On Friday, Israeli troops flattened the suicide bomber's home in the West Bank village of Beit Furik.
Thursday's suicide attack came shortly after the IDF killed Maklad Hamid, an Islamic Jihad leader, and five others in a targeted helicopter attack in Gaza.
An Israeli government spokesman said Hamid was "a ticking bomb" who was planning a "mega attack" against Israelis.
In addition, the IDF said a Qassam rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel on Friday.
The Israeli military said the rocket caused no injuries or damage and landed in the Negev Desert.
The IDF continues to conduct an anti-terror operation in Nablus that began last week. A curfew has been imposed in the western side of town. Troops are looking for terror suspects in house-to-house searches.
