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| Shelling 'kills Palestinian' in Gaza | Shelling 'kills Palestinian' in Gaza |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A Palestinian farmer has been killed and a second person wounded by Israeli artillery fire, Palestinian health officials and residents say. | A Palestinian farmer has been killed and a second person wounded by Israeli artillery fire, Palestinian health officials and residents say. |
| The strike happened early on Friday near the town of Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, according to a spokesman. | The strike happened early on Friday near the town of Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, according to a spokesman. |
| Israel's military has not yet commented on the report. | Israel's military has not yet commented on the report. |
| The area is in a state of heightened tension ahead of a six-week protest by Palestinians along the Israeli border. | The area is in a state of heightened tension ahead of a six-week protest by Palestinians along the Israeli border. |
| Witnesses say the dead and injured men were hit by tank shells while collecting parsley in a field, BBC Gaza producer Rushdi Abualouf reports. | |
| Hamas, the militant group which dominates the Gaza Strip, has accused Israel of trying to intimidate Palestinians by killing the farmer and urging them not to participate in the protests. | |
| Rising tensions | |
| By Sebastian Usher, Middle East editor, BBC World Service | |
| Tents have been pitched by Palestinians in five locations on the edge of the buffer zone near the border. It is a sign that the protest, which has been dubbed the Great March of Return, is in it for the long haul. | |
| Palestinian organisers - Hamas foremost among them - have urged tens of thousands of people to take part in the first protest, which falls on what Palestinians call Land Day - commemorating the killing of six unarmed protesters in 1976. | |
| Israel is wary, as tensions have once again been rising along the border with Gaza. The military has deployed more than 100 sharp-shooters, while the foreign ministry has made clear it does not believe that Hamas intends the protest to remain peaceful. | |
| All of this is happening in the shadow of the upcoming inauguration of the new US embassy in Jerusalem, which is set to happen in May - a development that may well help fuel the protest. |