Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian farmer near the border in northern Gaza on Sunday, medics said, as Palestinians in the war-battered enclave use local resources to build temporary homes.
Gaza's health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra identified the dead man as 32-year-old Fadel Mohammed Halawa, saying the bullet had hit him in the back.
Qudra said the bullet appeared to have been fired from a nearby Israeli army watchtower at a man who was farming land near the border fence.
Sunday’s incident was the first time a Palestinian from Gaza had been killed by Israeli fire since an Israeli summer offensive ended on August 26 with the an Egypt-brokered ceasefire agreement.
For 51 days this summer, Israel pounded the Gaza Strip by air, land and sea.
More than 2,160 Gazans, mostly civilians, were killed – and 11,000 injured – during seven weeks of unrelenting Israeli attacks in July and August.
