Limited Israeli incursion east of Gaza

 

 

GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) advanced a limited distance in Palestinian lands to the east of Gaza City on Thursday.

Local sources told Quds Press that several Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers advanced into lands to the eastern outskirts of the city in al-Shujaiyah district.

The Israeli forces opened machinegun fire at random and leveled lands during the incursion. No casualties have been reported.

The attack is another episode in the series of Israeli daily violations of the Cairo-brokered truce accord signed in the wake of last summer’s offensive on the besieged coastal enclave, which killed over 2,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians. 

Israeli forces shoot, injure Palestinian in southern Gaza

June 13, 2015 4:24 A.M. (Updated: June 14, 2015 12:19 A.M.)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces deployed near the Sufa crossing in the southern Gaza Strip opened fire at and injured a Palestinian Saturday, local sources told Ma'an.An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the report, telling Ma'an that a "Palestinian suspect approached the security fence" and Israeli forces opened fire at his lower extremities after firing warning shots into the air. One hit was confirmed, and Israeli forces took the man to a hospital in Israel for treatment, she added. The spokesperson did not have confirmation if the injured man would be detained after treatment or returned to the Gaza Strip.Sufa was one of several crossings between Gaza and Israel to be sealed by Israeli authorities in 2007 and was permanently closed in 2009, however is sporadically opened for humanitarian needs, according to Israeli rights group Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement.The border area where Israeli forces opened fire Saturday is part of an Israeli-enforced "buffer zone" along the Gaza-Israel border as well as on the western seaside border of the strip.The parameters of the buffer zone are regularly changed by Israeli authorities, and Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire toward Palestinian civilians inside of the buffer zone since the signing of a ceasefire agreement that ended a more than 50-day war between Israel and Hamas last summer, according to documentation by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PHCR).Despite shorter distances set by Israeli authorities, PHCR reports that attacks against Palestinians have taken place up to approximately 1.5 kilometers inside the border fence. Constituting around 17 percent of the total territory of the Gaza Strip, the buffer zone effectively turns local farms into no-go zones.The buffer zone, which Palestinians are prohibited from entering, "is illegal under both Israeli and international law," according to PHCR.

Israeli military vehicles, bulldozers cross Gaza borders

June 10, 2015 12:22 A.M. (Updated: June 10, 2015 6:25 A.M.) 

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip witnessed ongoing near daily incursions by Israeli forces Wednesday morning as Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers entered the strip, firing heavily into the air.Three bulldozers and four military tanks were observed by residents of the town of al-Qarara working on Palestinian agricultural land near the Gaza Israel border.Witnesses said the vehicles came from the Kissufim military base, reporting that Israeli forces fired gunshots into the air while the bulldozers worked.An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an she had a report of "routine maintenance" carried out adjacent to the border fence, but had no further information regarding what type of maintenance was performed.Israeli authorities maintain a "buffer zone" along the Gaza-Israel border, however its exact limits are ambiguous. Farmers whose land lies within or close to the buffer zone face near daily fire or threat of fire from Israeli forces, often preventing them from cultivating their crops, rights groups say.

Israeli forces enter the Gaza Strip on a near-daily basis in contravention of international law, with Israeli forces opening fire at civilians in the "buffer zone" on land and sea over ten times between May 26 and June 1, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

According to Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the buffer zone, which Palestinians are prohibited from entering, "is illegal under both Israeli and international law."Wednesday's incident also came days after Israeli jets launched airstrikes on a military training base operated by Hamas' military wing in the northern Gaza Strip in response to a rocket fired at Israel claimed by a group Sheikh Omar Hadid-Bayt al-Maqdis.The Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel was temporarily shut following the exchange, amidst an ongoing 8-year blockade of the strip enforced by Israel and supported by Egypt to the south.