Israeli troops wound Palestinian farmer in Gaza

Israeli soldiers stationed at the borders between eastern Gaza and Israel on Saturday evening opened fire at a Palestinian farmer and wounded him in his legs, medics said. Residents live in al-Bureij refugee camp in the eastern part of the Gaza Strip said they heard intensive gunfire near the borders, adding that the soldiers opened fire and wounded a farmer who approached the borderline area. No comment has been made by the Israeli army. Israel has established a buffer zone along its borders with the Gaza Strip in a bid to distance militants from the security fence separating the two territories. However, Palestinians say the 300- meter wide no-go zone takes most of the Gaza Strip's agricultural land. Meanwhile, the Israeli army has forcibly removed earlier on Saturday a camp of tents that belongs to Palestinian activists. The camp was built on a property that is planned to be part of an Israeli settlement near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Hassan Breejeya, the coordinator of the Palestinian anti- settlements committee, told Xinhua that dozens of Israeli soldiers broke into the camp and violently dispersed 100 activists just few hours after the camp was built up. "The aim of building up the camp of tents was symbolic to tell the world that the Palestinians are sticking to their lands and will exert every effort to confront the expansion of Israeli settlement," said Breejeya.