GAZA, June 1, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli armored tanks Wednesday infiltrated the borders with Gaza, and went into the eastern part of Deir al-Balah area and the northeastern part of the town of Qarara, in the central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, respectively.

WAFA correspondent said four Israeli military tanks and two bulldozers, stationed at an Israeli military base along the borderline, went nearly 150-meters into Palestinian agricultural land to the east of Deit al-Balah, where they proceeded to raze the land, while randomly firing live ammunition in all directions.

Meanwhile, other Israeli forces, accompanied by several bulldozers, infiltrated Gaza borders from the north-eastern part of the town of Qarara and deployed their troops in the area.

Since 2005, Israel unilaterally imposed a 300-meter-wide buffer zone into the border with Gaza, sharply affecting the livelihood of tens of thousands of Gaza farmers, who rely heavily on agriculture to provide for their families.

As of 2010, UN-OCHA estimated that 35 percent of Gaza‘s agricultural land is located in restricted-access areas, affecting the lives and livelihoods of approximately 113,000 people.

Farmers in farmland on the borders say their situation has only worsened since the last war ended in 2014 summer, pointing to the Israeli military‘s frequent incursions into their land and its practice of firing live ammunition at farmers who enter the ‘buffer zone‘ between Gaza and Israel.

Israel continues to breach a ceasefire deal reached with the Palestinian side on August 26, 2014, following 51 days of deadly aggression on the strip, which claimed the lives of over 2,200 Gaza refugees, overwhelmingly civilians.

T.R.