Source : Al Akhbar English
Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered a border area in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local sources told Ma’an news agency.
Witnesses told Ma'an that seven Israeli military vehicles entered 200 meters into a border area near Khan Younis and destroyed agricultural land, including trees.
Israeli border incursions are frequently reported by local residents.
The incident took place a day after an Israeli airstrike killed a Palestinian and wounded another in the Gaza Strip. A medical official in Gaza said the deceased, Haitham al-Mishal, was a security guard at al- Shifa hospital, while Israel reported that he was a "a global Jihad- affiliated terrorist."
The al-Ansar Brigades says it fired five rockets at Israeli targets on Tuesday in response to the killing.
Meanwhile, a Gaza fisherman was seriously wounded on Wednesday off Gaza's coast, after falling off his boat while the Israeli navy fired warning shots at him.
Adel Baker, 51, suffered serious head injuries after falling from a fishing boat near Rafah, Ma'an reported. Baker allegedly hit his head on the boat's anchor after Israel's navy fired warning shots at several fishing boats, causing him to panic and fall.
He was transferred to a Gaza hospital for treatment and is said to be in a serious condition.
Gaza's health ministry had earlier reported that Baker was shot by Israel's navy.
An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that Israeli forces fired warning shots at several boats after they deviated from the "designated fishing zone."
The zone had been extended to ten kilometers as part of an Egyptian- brokered ceasefire that ended an eight-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in November.
However, Israel decided to restrict fishing zones back to 5.5 kilometers in March, in response to a missile being fired from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has slammed the restricted fishing zone as "collective punishment" of Gaza's population.
"B'Tselem calls on the military to rescind its latest decision and the restrictions imposed on fishermen in the Gaza Strip in the past years, and to permit fishing in the 20 (nautical) miles range, as was set under the Oslo agreements."
(Ma’an, Al-Akhbar)
