The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Defense Ministry security guards shot and killed an Israeli man before dawn Monday as he tried to cross the border into Gaza at the Erez crossing, local daily Ha'aretz reported on its website.

The man, in his 30s, arrived at the crossing at 2:00 AM (0000GMT), parked his car, and began running toward the border crossingin to Gaza, said the report.

Troops registered the man on their security cameras, called out to him to stop, and when he did not heed their calls, began firing warning shots. The man began scaling the border fence when he was shot and killed.

Police sappers were summoned to determine whether the man was carrying explosives, as the initial fear was that the man was a militant, said the report, adding that the man's motive remained unclear.

Meanwhile, the IDF said in a statement that "guards... identified a man running toward the crossing and trying to climb the security fence. They called on him to stop and fired warning shots in the air. When he didn't heed their calls they fired towards his lower body."

The man, who died of his wounds in hospital, was an Israeli citizen and was "alleged to be mentally ill," said the statement.

Israel bans all its citizens from going to Gaza. It also routinely denies passage to Palestinians wishing to enter or leave the coastal enclave where some 1.5 million Palestinians live under an Israeli blockade.

Tensions along the border are high. Palestinians who have approached the border fence in the past have been fired at by Israeli security forces and in some cases killed.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2009)