A 12-year old boy gathering gravel near the Gaza border with the occupied palestinian territories was wounded on Saturday by Israeli army fire.

A 12-year old boy gathering gravel near the Gaza border with the occupied palestinian territories was wounded on Saturday by Israeli army fire, Palestinian medical officials and witnesses said.
  
The boy was shot in the leg as he foraged for building materials near the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, the sources said. The Israeli military spokesman's office said it was looking into the report.

Building materials are scarce in the coastal strip due to Israeli sanctions and seige and gravel finds a ready cash market. Figures provided by Geneva-based rights group Defence for Children International show that in the six months between March and October this year, 14 teenage gravel-pickers were wounded by Israeli fire -- with those injured being shot in an area ranging from 50 to 800 metres from the border.