At least one Palestinian died and four others were hurt by gunfire while crossing from Israel into the Gaza Strip on Sunday after completing the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Palestinian medics said. According to press reports, the medical workers said the pilgrims had been hit by Israeli gunfire at the Erez crossing on the northern Gaza Strip border. Witnesses said soldiers first fired into the air and then at the crowd of pilgrims.
Palestinian officials said about 700 pilgrims had crossed back into the Strip on Sunday, having returned from Saudi Arabia via Jordan.
2007 report
Meanwhile, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said in its year-end report the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli fire in 2007 decreased by 43 percent compared to 2006. All in all, 373 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire between January 1 and December 29 of this year.
Of those killed 53 were minors and 131 were bystanders not engaged in fighting at the time of their death. In 2006, the number stood at 657, with 348 of those killed reported as bystanders.
According to report more than 80% of Gaza Strip's residents directly rely on international aid agencies to supply their food. "If the stranglehold over the Gaza Strip is not removed immediately, the UN expects this number to keep rising." The report also noted that the siege has brought about the collapse of the health care infrastructure in the Strip.
The Israeli organization also reported that the settler population grew by 4.5 percent this year.
