Two Egyptian olive harvesters were wounded Sunday by gunfire that Egyptian police said came from Israeli troops shooting at Palestinian demonstrators on the other side of the border.
Suleiman al-Qambiz told AFP by telephone that he and his aunt Shahira were gathering olives near Salaheddin Street in Rafah, around 400 meters (yards) from the borderline when they were both hit by bullets.
Rafah is a border town, half of which lies in Egypt and the other half in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Police in Egypt said the two were hit Sunday morning by bullet splinters while Israeli troops were firing on Palestinians demonstrating against Israeli occupation across the border.
There were no reports of clashes in the area from Israeli and Palestinian sources, but Palestinian security sources in Gaza City said Israeli soldiers had fired on the Egyptian side of the border.
The security sources did not elaborate.
The border between Egypt and the Palestinian territories, which is controlled by Israeli security forces, has been closed for much of the last month.
Suleiman al-Qambiz said he was hit in the leg when standing on a raised platform to pick the olives while Shahira was on the ground when she was lightly wounded in the leg.
Both were later discharged from Egypt's Rafah hospital and went home.
Late last month, witnesses said stray Israeli bullets had hit buildings in the town on the Egyptian side, where 40,000 people live.
On October 11, the Israeli army said its troops fired live rounds into neighboring Egypt during clashes with youths who threw rocks and bottles at their positions from across the border.
But Egypt denied there was such an incident -- CAIRO (AFP)
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