GAZA, February 8, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli military and naval forces Monday targeted Palestinian farmers to the east of the Gaza Strip‘s Al-Bareej Refugee Camp and fishermen offshore Gaza city, with a barrage of gunfire.
WAFA correspondent reported that Israeli armed soldiers stationed along the borderline to the east of al-Bareej camp, opened their heavy machine gunfire at a group of farmers as they attempted to enter their land. However, no injuries or arrests were reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli navy boats opened gunfire on Palestinian fishermen’s boats, despite sailing within the six-nautical-mile zone allowed for fishing, causing damages to one of the boats.
No injuries were reported among the fishermen who fled the scene for fear of being injured, killed or arrested.
Israeli army and navy routinely open fire at Palestinian fishermen and farmlands along the Gaza border, in a blatant violation of a ceasefire deal reached between Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza on August 26th 2014 following 51 days of bloody aggression on the Strip in the summer of 2014.
The ceasefire deal stipulated that Israel would immediately ease the blockade imposed on the strip and expand the fishing zone off Gaza‘s coast, allowing fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles from shore, and would continue to expand the area gradually.
Israel has imposed a tightened blockade since 2007 after Hamas won the democratic legislative elections and took over power in the strip.
In its weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian Territories, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said the illegal closure, which has been steadily tightened since June 2007 has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
For nine consecutive years, Israel has tightened the land and naval closure to isolate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and other countries around the world,” said PCHR.
“This resulted in grave violations of the economic, social and cultural rights and a deterioration of living conditions for 1.8 million people,” it added.
PCHR stressed that, ‘Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period (31 December 2015 – 06 January 2016)’.
T.R.
