GAZA, Wednesday, February 19, 2020 (WAFA) - Israeli forces today shot and injured a Palestinian man near the border fence to the east of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, reported WAFA correspondent.

He said that Israeli forces stationed at Gaza’s eastern frontier with Israel opened live fire towards a group of Palestinians near the border fence east of Khuzaa town, injuring one.

Medical sources at the European hospital said the man was in moderate condition.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border, which the Israeli military has deemed as a buffer zone off Limit to Palestinians.

The "security buffer zone" extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones, and accounts for 17 percent of Gaza‘s total land area and 35 percent of its agricultural land.

Israel has placed a tight blockade on Gaza since 2007 after Hamas took over power in the strip, denying about two-million population their basic rights and as a result causing a decline in their standard of living, unprecedented rates of unemployment and poverty.

M.K.