GAZA: A Gaza farmer was killed and a second man was wounded by an Israeli tank shell on Friday, a Gaza health ministry spokesman said, on a day of heightened tensions ahead of planned protests by Palestinians along the border with Israel.
The Israeli military declined initial comment and was checking for details.
The Gaza health ministry spokesman said the farmer was killed and another wounded near the town of Khan Younis. Residents there said he was gathering crops to sell later.
"Omar Samour, 27, was martyred and another citizen was wounded as a result of (Israeli) targeting of farmers east of Qarara village," the health ministry said.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are planning to begin a six-week-long tent city protest to demand Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to what is now Israel.
Israeli security forces are on heightened alert. Israel's military chief said in an interview on Wednesday more than 100 sharpshooters had been deployed on the Gaza border ahead of the planned mass demonstration near the frontier.
Organisers from a number of factions, including Islamist Hamas, which dominates Gaza, hope thousands will answer their call to flock to tent cities in five locations along the sensitive border to call for a right of return of Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel.
The Israeli military, citing security concerns, enforces a "no go" zone for Palestinians on land in Gaza adjacent to Israel's border fence.
The March 30 date for the start of the protest marks "Land Day" commemorating the six Arab citizens of Israel who were killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations in 1976 over government land confiscations in northern Israel.
It is due to end on May 15, the day Palestinians call the "Nakba" or "catastrophe", marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the conflict surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948.
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Gaza farmer killed by Israeli tank shell
Gaza farmer killed by Israeli tank shell
Israel says it killed Hamas financial officer in Gaza
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip.
Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas’s armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in “a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet,” Israel’s internal security agency.
Zaqut “belonged to the financial department of the armed wing” of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.
“Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel,” he said.
Hamas’s leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Raed Saad and “his companions,” though he did not name Zaqut.
The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas’s military wing and oversaw the group’s build-up of capabilities.
Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.
The war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.
Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas’s armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in “a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet,” Israel’s internal security agency.
Zaqut “belonged to the financial department of the armed wing” of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.
“Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel,” he said.
Hamas’s leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Raed Saad and “his companions,” though he did not name Zaqut.
The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas’s military wing and oversaw the group’s build-up of capabilities.
Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.
The war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.
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