GAZA CITY
Seven Palestinians were injured on Friday after being fired upon by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qadra told Anadolu Agency that the seven were injured in eastern Jabalia when Israeli troops opened fire on them, adding that injuries ranged from slight to moderate.
Scores of Palestinian activists on Friday attempted to enter a 300-meter Israel-imposed buffer zone along the strip's eastern and northern borders before Israeli troops drove them back with teargas and gunfire, an AA correspondent reported from the scene.
One week ago, a Palestinian youth was killed and five others injured in the same area when Israeli forces opened fire on a group of Palestinian agricultural workers.
Despite a 2012 Egypt-brokered truce between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions, Palestinian agricultural workers in the north and east of the Gaza Strip face frequent attacks and land incursions by Israeli forces.
The truce deal calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from the buffer zone to allow Palestinian farmers to cultivate their land. Nevertheless, Israeli forces often shoot at or arrest Palestinians in the area, who they accuse of approaching the separation fence between the two territories.
By Hani al-Shaer
englishnews@aa.com.tr
