Israeli occupation forces fire on farmers in northern Gaza

Israeli occupation army opens heavy fire towards farmers in northern Gaza

Sunday July 06, 2008 12:56 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli occupation army opened heavy fire early on Sunday morning towards Palestinian farmers in areas, adjacent to the border electronic barbed wire fence with Israel in northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation army fire today came following an Israeli decision to shoot at any moving object just 300 meters away from the border fence. The decision was delivered earlier to Egyptian mediators who brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians three weeks ago.

The local popular committee for encountering the Israeli aggression in the northern city of Beit Hanoun, considered the decision as a real threat to thousands of Palestinian farmers, who earn a living in the area.

Witnesses said on Sunday that dozens of local farmers fled the scene following the sporadic gunfire in the area, two weeks after they have got use of the ceasefire deal.

Saber aL-Z'aneen, coordinator of the Beith Hanoun committee, told media outlets that the Israeli army actions in this border city would threaten living conditions over there.

He called on all concerned parties worldwide to pressure the Israeli occupation government to refrain from attacking the farm lands and maintain a state of calm in the region.

Israeli occupation forces had taken that decision following firing of some homemade shells from Gaza onto nearby Israel amidst a ceasefire deal between the ruling Hamas party in Gaza and Israel.

Israeli occupation forces fire on farmers in northern Gaza

Date: 06 / 07 / 2008 Time: 11:54
Gaza – Ma'an –

Israeli occupation forces used machine guns to fire on Palestinian farmers who were tending their fields near the high-tech border fence in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday.

As a result of heavy fire, farmers were forced to abandon work in their fields which they had only begun after a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions went into effect on 19 June.

The Israeli occupation forces announced on Friday that it would fire on any Palestinians who come within 300 meters of the Israel-Gaza border, despite the ceasefire. Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli military took over the frequencies of local radio stations to warn locals than anyone who approaches the border would be shot.

The Palestinian local initiative for countering Israeli aggression in the town of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, called this decision "a death penalty for thousands of farmers," and said warned that thousands of hectares of agricultural lands and irrigation wells would be lost to the border zone.

The media director of the local initiative Sabir Za'aneen said the northern and eastern Gaza Strip borders have bcome "death borders" which will result in the loss of thousands of jobs for Palestinian farmers when they lose access to their fields.

The Ministry of Agriculture in the Gaza-based Hamas de facto government criticized the Israeli military's decision to turn the border area into a kill zone.

"[The Israeli] occupation's procedures double Palestinian citizens' suffering, especially farmers who have hoped to reform their lands and plant it again after the ceasefire with Israel came into effect," said the Ministry of Agriculture in a statement.

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