Israeli soldiers have injured a Palestinian farmer at the borders between eastern Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestine.

Residents living in al-Bureij refugee camp in the besieged enclave told Xinhua on Saturday that they heard gunfire near the borders, adding that Israeli troops opened fire at a farmer who was approaching the border.

The Israeli military has not yet made any comments regarding the incident.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli forces removed tents belonging to Palestinian activists on a property that is supposed to be part of an Israeli settlement near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in 1967.

The UN and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbids construction on occupied lands.

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