Israel has opened fire on the Gaza Strip on “at least 696
occasions” since the August 2014 ceasefire, the UK government has told
Parliament.

These incidents are in addition to 29 strikes on Gaza conducted in response to rocket fire.
The figures were provided by Tobias Ellwood, Parliamentary Under
Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, citing UN
agency figures, and in response to a question by Labour MP Alex
Cunningham.

Tobias Ellwood, UK Conservative Party politician

On September 4, Cunningham asked “how
many times the Israeli military have opened fire into Gaza since August
2014; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent future such
incidents.”
Answering a week later, Ellwood stated.

We are aware of Israeli forces responding to illegal
rocket fire from Gaza with 29 strikes since the 26 August 2014 Gaza
ceasefire agreement. According to figures from the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, Israeli forces have opened fire into the Gaza Access
Restricted Areas on land and sea on at least 696 occasions since then.

He added that British officials in Tel Aviv have “raised our concerns
over the Israel Defence Force’s use of live fire in Gaza with the
Israeli Government. We are continuing to urge the parties to prioritise
progress towards reaching a durable solution for Gaza.”
As described by Middle East Monitor here,
Israeli forces’ attacks on the Gaza Strip are routine, targeting
farmers, fishermen, and unarmed civilian protesters. Israel’s unilateral
imposition of a ‘no go’ buffer zone by the border fence and at sea is
an important part of the ongoing blockade.
Earlier this month, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights said it
had documented 82 incidents by land in 2015 to date, in addition to 88
incidents of Israeli forces opening fire on fishermen. These attacks
have killed 2 and injured 54.
On September 17, Israeli forces permitted Palestinian
farmers to access their land close to the border fence “for the first
time in 15 years.” It remains to be seen how this works out in practice;
on September 21, Israeli forces crossed the fence again and bulldozed agricultural land.