The Israeli military, Saturday, targeted with gunfire a group of Palestinian farmers as they attempted to enter their agricultural land situated along the borderline area of al-Zaytoun neighborhood, to the southeast of Gaza City.WAFA correspondence reported that soldiers manning military watchtowers along the Israel−Gaza security barrier — a border barrier first constructed by Israel in 1994 between the Gaza Strip and Israel — fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters at farmers, and prevented them from entering their land. No injuries were reported.
Israel continues to breach a truce agreement reached between them and armed Palestinian groups in August 2014, ending a 51 day of military aggression on the Strip.
In the meantime, an unusual military presence was witnessed along the borderline area to the east of the strip, with military reconnaissance hovering over.
The ‘buffer zone’ extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zone.
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.
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 sizable ‘buffer zone’ between Gaza and Israel.
Israel has imposed a tightened blockade since 2007 after Hamas won the democratic legislative elections and took over power in the Strip.
Archive IMEMC report: 03/01/15 94 Israeli Ceasefire Violations Since August
