Israel, January 22: Palestinian medics said the victim was killed while searching for construction material. Israel’s Army, however, claimed it had received no reports of any shootings in the area.
Palestinians scavenge through the remnants of former Israeli settlements for collectable materials. The measure serves as a coping strategy against a crippling blockade Israel has been imposing on Gaza since mid-June 2007.
Tel Aviv has enforced a so-called buffer zone close to the coastal sliver’s border, regularly targeting the rubble collectors who approach the area.
Last year, the shootings killed scores of Palestinians, many of them children.
Highlighting the attacks, an August study by the United Nations showed, “Palestinians have been totally or partially prevented from accessing land located up to 1,000-1,500 meters” from the border.
The Saturday strike was just two days after the Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian and abducted 11 others in the occupied West Bank.
The Tel Aviv-sanctioned attacks against the Palestinians take place on a regular basis and the ones targeting Gaza have increased over the recent months.
—-Agencies