Israeli forces target farmers east of Deir al-Balah

Israeli forces Tuesday morning targeted Palestinian farmers east of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip, according to WAFA correspondent.

He said that soldiers stationed along the border, east of the city, opened fire towards a group of farmers who were attempting to reach their groves in addition to bird hunters, forcing them to flee.

Meanwhile, Israeli navy opened fire at Palestinian fishermen sailing three nautical miles offshore As-Sudaniya area, west of Gaza city, causing damage to a boat and forcing the fishermen to flee for their safety.

No casualties were reported, however.

Two million Palestinians live the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a punishing and crippling Israeli blockade for 12 years and repeated onslaughts that have heavily damaged much of the enclave’s infrastructure.

Gaza’s 2-million population remains under “remote control” occupation and a strict siege, which has destroyed the local economy, strangled Palestinian livelihoods, plunged them into unprecedented rates of unemployment and poverty, and cut off from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories and the wider world.

Gaza remains occupied territory, having no control over its borders, territorial waters or airspace. Meanwhile, Israel upholds very few of its responsibilities as the occupying power, failing to provide for the basic needs of Palestinian civilians living in the territory.

Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza is a refugee from lands inside what is now Israel. That government forbids them from exercising their right to return as enshrined in international law because they are not Jews.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency