Israeli soldiers open fire in ‘buffer zone’

One person has been killed and at least 10 others wounded as Israeli soldiers, stationed at the border line between the Palestinian town of Khan Younis and Israel, opened fire on them, medical sources say.Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the teenagers entered the disputed area of the “buffer zone”, which is 300m along all the Gaza-Israel border, southeast of the Gaza Strip.Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza City, said she had received reports that a number of farmers entered the buffer zone, which ordinarily is a no-go zone for Palestinians, to check on their crops. She said they may have also wanted to pray.Johnston said they may have had confused details about the zone as there had been lots of information about the easing of travel restrictions as part of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, brokered on Wednesday night.They may have thought that they can now travel there, she said, adding that the shootings would “send a message” to Palestinians that the buffer zone is still a no-go area.“The occupation forces opened fire on a group of farmers,” Gaza emergency service spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya said.The teenagers reportedly entered along with the farmers when the Israeli soldiers opened fire on them, our correspondent said.The Palestinian emergency service identified the dead man as 21-year-old Abdelhadi Qdeih Anwar, AFP news agency reported. They said he was killed in the southern Gaza village of Khuzaa. Nineteen other Palestinians suffered gunshot wounds. Anwar was hit in the head by the Israeli gunfire, Reuters news agency quoted medics as saying.A relative of the dead man, who was at the scene, told Reuters that Anwar had been trying to place a Hamas flag on the fence.