Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian young man after shooting him in northern Gaza Strip, an emergency official said Wednesday.

Israeli troops manning the security fence between Beit Lahiya town and Israel, shot the youth who was collecting rubbish, said Mu'awia Hassanein, the health ministry's emergencies director.

"The Israeli army did not allow our ambulances to approach the area and arrested the wounded," Hassanein said in a statement sent to the media.

The Israeli army has allocated a 300-meter buffer zone alongside the Gaza Strip border and often shoots Palestinians who enter the restricted area.

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2009)