By Hani al-Shair
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA): A Palestinian farmer was killed and another injured Friday morning by Israeli artillery shelling in farming areas in the southern Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that the farmer Omar Wahid Samour, 28, from the town of Bani Suheila, was killed by Israeli shelling, while, Ahmed Salim al-Shami, 23, was slightly injured.There were no processions or confrontation in the area.
They added that Samour and al-Shami were working in their field near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
The Israeli army has yet to comment on the incident.
Friday’s shelling comes only hours before planned Palestinian demonstrations in which Gazans plan to converge on the Gaza-Israel border.
The Israeli ministerial cabinet held a special meeting Wednesday to discuss the expected mass Palestinian protests, especially in the Gaza Strip, Friday, to commemorate Palestinian Land Day.
The Cabinet decided to significantly increase military deployments, in addition to using live fire and shoot to kill orders “if the Palestinians breach (or approach) the security fence” in the besieged coastal territory.
The Israeli preparations also include various parts of the occupied West Bank, especially in areas close to its illegal colonies and military bases. Israeli officials have publicly stated that Israeli colonial settlers will be urged to carry their weapons in the area around the protests – despite these settlers having a documented history of excessive violence against Palestinian civilians.
All major Palestinian factions have endorsed the planned rallies, during which Gazan protesters will converge en masse on the strip’s roughly 45-kilometer-long eastern border with Israel.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has suffered from a crippling Israeli/Egyptian blockade that has gutted its economy and deprived its more than 2 million inhabitants of basic commodities.
Additional report by Imemec.org
[Photo: Relatives of Omar Wahid Semmur (28), who was killed by Israeli artillery fire while he was working in the field, mourn around his funeral at European Gaza Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on March 30, 2018. Photographer: Ali Jadallah/AA]
