Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip has killed at least one Palestinian and injured another in the northern part of the besieged coastal sliver.

Hamas government sources have said that the two Palestinians were targeted by Israeli army tanks.

Israel soldiers claim that they opened fire on Palestinians who were apparently trying to breach the Gaza Strip border late Wednesday.

Most Palestinians in the area are farmers who have to risk their lives to go to their farms across the Israeli created no-go zone and Israeli soldiers frequently open fire on them, accusing them of trying to approach the "security fence."

The Israeli army has established a three-hundred-meter wide buffer zone along the Gaza Strip. Israelis fire at any Palestinian who tries to enter the buffer zone.

Dozens of civilians, many of them youths searching for highly prized gravel, have also been shot and killed over the past year.

Since the beginning of Israel’s blockade, Gazans have been forced to comb the area along the border fence collecting rubble and gravel to make building material for construction.

Much needed construction materials are mostly banned from the Strip under Israel’s siege. The Strip’s reconstruction following Israeli offensives has been almost completely hampered as a result.

Israel has continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than 3 years. The illegal Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has been steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip, reports say.

(Press TV)