GAZA, June
23, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Tuesday morning opened gunfire at Palestinian
farmlands and homes in the town of Khuza‘a east of Khan Younes in the southern
Gaza Strip, said WAFA correspondent.
Israeli
soldiers deployed and stationed at military watchtowers along the border to the
east of the city indiscriminately opened fire at borderline Palestinian farmers
and homes to the east of Khuza‘a.
This came
hours after two Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli forces to the
east of Khan Younes.
No
casualties were reported in the cross-border attack that constitutes a flagrant
violation of the ceasefire deal, which ended the latest deadly Israeli
onslaught targeting the war-torn coastal enclave.
Israeli
Forces 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 1,500 meters into the Strip, effectively
turning local farms into no-go zones.
According
to UNOCHA, 17% of Gaza's total land area and 35% of its agricultural land were
within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods
of more than 100,000 residents of Gaza.
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 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/M.H
