AFP - Sixteen Palestinians were wounded by Israeli army gunfire Friday in two separate incidents near the border fence in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said.

Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the health ministry, said a 12-year-old boy was in serious condition after being shot in the head northeast of Gaza City near Jabalia.

Thirteen other Palestinians who had been throwing stones at Israeli soldiers were also wounded when the troops opened fire at them, he added.

In the other incident a Palestinian boy, also aged 12, was seriously wounded by Israeli gunfire near the Sufa crossing east of Rafah in southern Gaza, Qudra told AFP.

Clashes are common on Fridays, with regular protests near the border in support of Gaza farmers who say troops uprooted their trees to create a buffer zone.

Six Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and one Israeli since late December.

Friday's escalation comes amid Israeli threats directed to Gaza-governming Hamas with a full-scale offensive, while the later says it's committed to maintaining Egypt-mediated cease-fire agreement which followed an eight-day aggression that claimed 167 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

ALRAY contributed.