Israeli soldiers have killed a Palestinian and wounded at least one other in a confrontation near a Gaza Strip crossing, the Israeli army and Palestinian medical workers said.

An Israeli military official said their troops opened fire on the Palestinians at the Karni crossing on Friday.

A Palestinian hospital official said the men were civilians who had been hunting birds.

The Israeli military said five men "appeared to be planting explosive devices" along the frontier when troops opened fire.

One died of injuries, a second was taken to hospital and three others were held by the troops.

In a separate incident, Israeli police said they arrested a Palestinian man, 18, near the al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, after he lunged with a knife at a group of Israeli officers, Shmuel Ben-Ruby, a police spokesman said.

There were no reported injuries in the Jerusalem incident. Tensions have been high in the city over the past few weeks as Palestinian worshippers fought to protect the historic site from Jewish nationalists.

(Aljazeera.net English and Agencies)