Palestinian wounded by Israeli ‘tank fire’ in Gaza

Israeli troops have wounded a Palestinian man in the blockaded Gaza Strip, which is now hit by cold weather coupled with severe fuel and electricity shortage.
 Palestinian sources said the man was targeted on Saturday evening by Israeli tank fire east of the southern city of Khan Yunis.
 The Israeli army also confirmed the incident, claiming the Palestinian man was wounded by Israeli gunfire when he approached the Israeli separation fence.
 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been living under an Israeli blockade that has brought about a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty in the region.
 The siege was tightened in 2007, one year after a democratically elected government led by the Islamic Hamas movement had to limit its rule to the coastal enclave following a coup attempt by the rival Fatah party.
 This has literally cut off the populated strip, home to nearly 1.7 million people, from the outside world and turned it into the largest open prison in the world.
 On Saturday, officials said that some 40,000 Gazans were displaced due to torrential rains that started earlier in the week, while some parts of the region was covered with snow.
 The cold snap comes at a time when the majority of Gazans have been experiencing fuel shortages and power cuts after the territory's only power plant was shut down due to a fuel shortage last month.
 The plant remains out of service due to fuel shortage while the facility's old pumps cannot be repaired because of a lack of spare parts.

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