Description

A picture taken from Israel shows an Israeli Merkava tank taking
position along the southern border with the Gaza Strip, Dec. 2013
(AFP/Menahem Kahana, File)
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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and injured two Palestinians in the town of Absan east of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, said Israeli forces shot the two young men in the lower extremities, moderately injuring them near the southern Gaza border.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an she didn't have immediate information on this specific incident but would look into it.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces opened fire on farmers east of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, and at farmers near the town of Khuzaa in the southern Gaza Strip.

Separately, on Saturday, Israeli warships opened fire on a group of Palestinians fishing in boats off the northwest coast of Gaza City, a week after killing a fisherman in a similar incident.

Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire toward Palestinian civilians near the border since the ceasefire agreement signed Aug. 26, 2014, that ended a more than 50-day assault on Gaza, termed by Israel Operation Protective Edge, that left around 2,200 dead and 11,000 injured.

In February alone, there were a total of 26 incidents of shootings, incursions into the Strip, and arrests, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

The attacks come despite Israeli promises at the end of the ceasefire that restrictions on Palestinian access to the border region near the "security buffer zone" would be eased.