Israeli soldiers, on Sunday, shot and injured a Palestinian farmer east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, locals and medics said.Locals told Ma’an News Agency that Israeli soldiers stationed on the Israeli side of the border fence, near the Kerem Shalom military post, opened fire at Palestinian farmers working on their land at the time, hitting a farmer in his twenties.
Medics at Abu Yousif al-Najjar hospital said that the victim had been treated for wounds in his left leg.
An Israeli army spokesperson did not have immediate information on the incident.
Israeli forces regularly open fire on Palestinian farmers as well as fishermen whose work takes them close to a “security buffer zone” imposed by Israel on both land and seaside borders of the besieged enclave.
Ninety-five percent of Gaza’s arable land lies along the zone that is routinely restricted to Palestinians in the strip, making it impossible for many farmers to access their land without serious risk, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
On Friday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 41-year-old Palestinian and injured at least 58 with live fire during a demonstration near the border fence.
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