Palestina - Palestinian workers under Israeli fire (2012)

In January 2011, Salama Isleem was wounded by Israeli fire while collecting gravel near the Israeli border. Several hundred Palestinians gather gravel from the rubble at the border but shootings at the workers have been taking place daily since Israel allocated a 300-metre-wide buffer zone along its borders with the Gaza Strip in February 2010. Despite the risks, workers collected gravel from the rubble of demolished buildings which were either destroyed by Israeli war jets in the past few years or used to be homes for Jewish settlers. Workers dig and sift the rubble to isolate the gravel which they then sell to local factories which need gravel because of a 2006 ban on the importation of raw construction materials into the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army had reportedly wounded about 130 gravel workers from the Gaza Strip since February, and killed six since March; most in their early twenties. Farmers who approach their farms close to the borders are also targeted.