DEIR
Al-BALAH, May 7, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Wednesday opened gunfire on
Palestinian farmlands to the east of Deir al-Balah as well as at fishermen
offshore the city in the central Gaza Strip.
WAFA
correspondent reported that forces stationed in borderline military watchtowers
in the vicinity of ‘Kissufim’ military base opened heavy fire on farmlands to
the southeast of the city, forcing farmers who were tending to their crops to
flee the area for fear of being injured, killed, or arrested.
Meanwhile, Israeli naval boats opened heavy
gunfire on Palestinian fishermen sailing within the unilaterally-imposed
six-nautical-miles fishing zone offshore Deir al-Balah, causing damages to at
least one boat.
No injuries were reported among farmers and fishermen
in the cross-border attacks that constitute a flagrant violation of the
ceasefire deal that ended the latest deadly Israeli onslaught on the war-torn
coastal enclave.
Israeli
troops and navy routinely open fire on Palestinian farmers and other civilians
if they approach large tracts of borderline land that Israeli forces have
deemed off-limits to Palestinians as well as on fishing boats sailing within
the six-nautical-miles zone.
The
buffer zone extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip,
effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.
According
to UNOCHA, 17 percent of Gaza's total land area and 35 percent of its
agricultural land lie within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the
lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gaza residents.
Israel
and the Palestinian factions inked a ceasefire deal on August 26, ending the
latest deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza that claimed the lives of over 2,200
people, overwhelmingly civilians.
The
ceasefire deal stipulated that Israel would immediately ease the blockade
imposed on the strip and expand the fishing zone off Gaza's coast, but it has
failed to do so.
Continuing
the Cairo-brokered talks on the other key issues was repeatedly postponed in
the wake of 2014 November attacks against Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai
Peninsula.
Israel
has imposed a tightened blockade since 2007 after Hamas won the democratic
legislative elections and took over power in the strip.
K.
F./T.R.
