Israeli army arrests two Palestinians allegedly attempting to cross eastern Gaza border

The Israeli on Monday morning arrested two Palestinians under the pretext they were attempting to cross the eastern fence, separating the coastal enclave of Gaza from the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories of historic Palestine.

In a press statement on Twitter, the Israeli army claimed, "Our soldiers detained two Gazan suspects who tried to cross the eastern border and reach Israeli cities."

The army added that "no weapons were seized from the suspects and they were transferred for further questioning."

The army statement did not note whether the two young men managed to cross the fence from the southern part of the Palestinian territories when they were captured.

The Israeli army prevents Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from entering around 300 metres area to the border, calling it a "buffer zone." It also shoots or arrests anyone found within that area.

The Israeli army has arrested dozens of Palestinians on the border with Gaza in recent months, alleging that they were attempting to infiltrate Israel.

From time to time, some Palestinians in Gaza, mostly young men, cross the eastern fence despite the dangerous trip to reach the Israeli or the occupied West Bank territories to find work and escape poverty and hard-living conditions. 

Since 2007, Israeli imposed a tightened blockade on the territory after the Islamic Hamas, which won the legislative elections in 2006, controlled the coastal enclave.