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Israeli soldiers patrol the border with the Gaza Strip. (AFP/Menahem Kahana/File)
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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military vehicles on Tuesday morning crossed the border into the southern Gaza Strip and leveled Palestinian land, witnesses told Ma'an.

Witnesses said that four bulldozers leveled land on the Palestinian side of the border fence in the eastern outskirts of Khuzaa town east of Khan Younis.

Israeli soldiers used smoke grenades to conceal the movement of bulldozers and Palestinian farmers left their fields fearing possible shootings.

Israeli forces have made repeated incursions into the Gaza Strip over the past year and have frequently opened fire on Palestinians who approach the border "buffer zone."

In July alone, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights counted 27 incidents of shootings, incursions into the territory, and arrests.

This included 18 shootings on land and at sea that left nine Palestinians injured, PCHR reported.