Israeli military vehicles enter Gaza, soldiers open fire at farms

[Jefferson23]

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military vehicles entered the southern Gaza Strip early Wednesday and soldiers opened fire towards Palestinian agricultural areas, locals told Ma'an.

Twelve military vehicles entered Gaza from a gate east of the town of al-Fukhari in the Khan Younis district, witnesses said.

The vehicles reportedly crossed some 200 meters into the Strip, and soldiers scanned the area before shooting towards Palestinian farms in an apparent ceasefire violation.

Agricultural workers were forced to leave their fields when soldiers shot at their farms, the witnesses told Ma'an.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=731192

[oberliner]

1. This is bad reporting

Any attempt to find out why soldiers opened fire? Who were they shooting at? What was going on?

[Jefferson23]

2. They reported what they know, and they added:

*An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was looking into the incident.

[oberliner]

3. The article mentions witnesses

Why not ask those witnesses what might have precipitated the shooting?

If Israeli soldiers just randomly starting shooting at Palestinians for no particular reason, I would think the reporter would want to get quotes from eye-witnesses on the scene to draw attention to this behavior.

[Jefferson23]

5. You don't know if they did not ask what precipitated the shooting. They may not know why

which could explain it being reported as it is. I doubt this is the end of the story, it appears to be a
violation of the cease fire agreement and there have already been shots fired at Gaza fishermen that
human rights groups documented recently. I wonder how much longer it will take for Israel to respond.

[oberliner]

7. I assert that it's poor reporting

The "why" does not even seem to have been asked, let alone answered.

[Jefferson23]

8. You may have a long wait, Israeli officials not known for timely responses on such matters. n/t

[oberliner]

9. There are no Palestinians quoted in the article

There are reference to "locals" and "agricultural workers" and "witnesses" yet none of them are named and none of them are quoted directly. It seems like these folks could have provided more information if they were asked probing questions.

The headline says the soldiers opened fire at the farm. I'm assuming these were warning shots of some kind since no one was injured.

Again, a few more details acquired via the people on the scene could help paint a fuller picture of what happened.

[Jefferson23]

10. I would not assume anything and there was one talk back that suggested surveillance cameras

be positioned in numerous locations..great idea, I think.

[azurnoir]

4. It will interesting to see what IDF comes up with to justify this-if anything

perhaps Israel has unilaterally enlarged the buffer zone or something

[Jefferson23]

6. An enlarged buffer zone, just in the nick of time it seems. n/t

[Igel]

11. Well, at least only inanimate objects were shot at.

No actual people.

I wonder what the farms were doing that pissed off the IDF? Photosynthesizing? Denitrification? Possibly dephosphorylization?

Either way, must have been really bad. Perhaps being fertile and producing food?


Yes, it's not only bad reporting, it's bad editing.

Even for Ma'an. Named after an oddly pro-Islamist city in Jordan.

[Jefferson23]

12. Damn those who are wrongly named, Ma'an. n/t

[Jefferson23]

13. Israeli occupation forces shoot Palestinian farmer in Gaza

Israeli occupation forces shot on Sunday afternoon a Palestinian farmer in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Anadolu news agency reported.

Citing Palestinian medical sources, the news agency reported that Rajab Maarouf, 22, was shot in his leg while working on his farm in Beit Lahia. Maarouf was then taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital, where doctors said he had suffered moderate injuries to his leg.

According to Israeli media, an Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the shooting, claiming that: "There were two suspects that approached the security fence" in the area.

She added that the soldiers fired "warning shots in the air and at their lower extremities and then the suspects moved away."

A ceasefire agreement between Palestinian factions in Gaza and the Israeli occupation was reached on 26 August, ending a 51-day Israeli war on the Strip that claimed the lives of more than 2,160 Palestinians and wounded more than 11,000 others, mostly civilians.

The Israeli occupation maintains a 1,500-metre "military buffer zone" along the Gaza borders, which was supposed to be reduced as part of the ceasefire agreement, with farmers initially reporting that they were able to access their fields within 100 meters from the border fence.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/14409-israeli-occupation-forces-shoot-palestinian-farmer-in-gaza