Israeli forces have targeted Palestinian farmers working on their land in the Gaza Strip amid escalation which followed detention of a senior Islamic Jihad official in the occupied West Bank.

Security sources said that the occupation soldiers stationed to the east of Khan Yunis opened fire with live ammunition and shot tear gas canisters at the farmers.

Such deadly harassment happens frequently as the Israelis seek to impose a buffer zone along the Gaza side of the nominal border.

Islamic Jihad's Bassam Al-Saadi was arrested in Jenin earlier this week in a raid during which a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was killed.

The Israelis closed several roads in the south of the country along the Gaza border fence, fearing possible reprisals from Palestinian factions for the arrest and detention of senior Islamic Jihad figure.