Description

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian man east of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday.

A Ministry of Health spokesman, Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, said that the 37-year-old man had been shot in his right foot in the Abu Safiya area east of Beit Hanoun.

Al-Qudra said the injured man had been moved to Kamal Adwan hospital for treatment, and described his condition as moderate.

The injury came as Israeli forces opened fire on fishermen and farmers across the Gaza Strip.

Witnesses reported that Israeli naval forces fired on fishing boats four miles off the coast, damaging the boats and forcing the fisherman to return to land.

Meanwhile, Israeli border forces fired smoke bombs at farmers' land east of Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on Gazans since the ceasefire agreement signed Aug. 26, 2014 that ended a devastating 50-day war between Israel and Hamas.

In March alone, there were a total of 38 incidents of shootings, incursions into the coastal enclave, and arrests, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR).

That was up from 26 incidents through February, and left seven Palestinians injured and one dead.

The attacks come despite Israeli promises at the end of the ceasefire to ease restrictions on Palestinian access to both the sea and the border region near the "security buffer zone."