RAMALLAH: Israeli military forces breached the fragile ceasefire again on Thursday when military bulldozers entered the Gaza Strip at a village near Khan Younis, Ma'an News Agency reported. The army did not fire and no one was injured. Israel violated the terms of the ceasefire on Wednesday also when soldiers fired on seven civilians, leaving one in critical condition, near Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureej refugee camps. A 27-year-old Palestinian man was injured and transferred to a hospital after Israeli soldiers shot him as he was working in northern Gaza. The first violation took place last week when soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man who placed a Hamas flag on the Gaza border fence. Between 12 and 21 others were injured, various sources said. Israel is not supposed to fire on civilians in the “buffer zone," according to the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that went into effect Wednesday last week. The ceasefire put an end to an 8-day military offensive against the Gaza Strip, in which over 170 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes on densely populated areas and also inflicted over a thousand injuries. Various human rights organizations and monitors accuse Israel of intentionally targeting civilians and international journalists. Thursday's breach of the ceasefire comes as the Palestinian Authority seeks an upgrade in the United Nations General Assembly, taking Palestine from “entity" to “nonmember state."
