A Palestinian sniper in Gaza Strip Sunday opened fire at a farmer in a southern Israeli community, missing him but causing property damage, local daily Ha'aretz reported, citing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
According to IDF, the gunman shot at the farmer as he was driving a tractor near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. The farmer was unhurt, though gunfire damaged his vehicle.
The incident occurred shortly after Israel reopened its border crossings with Gaza, a measure stipulated by a truce agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas.
There was no word from Israel on whether it would keep the border crossings open after Sunday's shooting.
Earlier, Israeli official Peter Lerner said that Israel was reopening some border crossings with Gaza on Sunday after three days of closure in response to Thursday's rocket attack.
The Erez crossing, the main passage for people between Gaza and Israel, would be opened to allow Gazans in need of urgent medical attention to travel into Israel, said Lerner.
In addition, the Sufa crossing would be opened to allow goods and cement into Gaza, and the Nahal Oz fuel depot would also be opened, Lerner added.
Israel closed its border crossings with Gaza again on Thursday following a rocket attack from the Hamas-ruled enclave, further straining a shaky truce with Palestinian militant groups.
The rocket hit an open field near the border town of Sderot on Thursday afternoon, causing no casualties, which was at least the fifth such attack since the Egypt-brokered truce went into effect on June 19.
Following Thursday's violation, for which no group has claimed responsibility, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the army to close all the border crossings with the Palestinian territories.
The move marked the third time that the Jewish state closes the border in response to rocket attacks from Gaza since the implementation of the ceasefire. The previous two closures lasted four days and one day respectively.
Hamas has pledged to rein in other militant groups in Gaza, calling on them to honor the ceasefire deal while vowing to punish those who violate it.
Source:Xinhua
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