News / Palestine

Israeli troops shoot, injure two Palestinian men in Gaza Strip

Saturday, 02 April 2016 1:03 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 02 April 2016 1:02 PM ]

An Israeli trooper walks next to his tank near the Gaza Strip on January 13, 2016. (AFP photo)

Israeli military forces have shot and injured two young Palestinian men in the southern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources said the pair were wandering in their farmland close to Yasser Arafat International Airport, formerly known as Gaza International Airport, on Saturday morning when Israeli troopers opened fire on them, Arabic-language Palestine al-Yawm news agency reported.

There were no immediate words on the extent of the injuries of the two Palestinians.

The development came only a day after Israeli forces shot and injured at least five Palestinians in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

Also on Saturday, Israeli naval boats targeted Palestinian boats near the shores of the border city of Rafah. One boat caught fire and sank as a result but there were no reports of casualties in the attack.

Palestinian fishing boats are seen at the sea port in Gaza City on April 1, 2016. © AFP

Around 4,000 fishermen work in Gaza, half of whom live below the poverty line.

Under a ceasefire agreement reached between Israelis and Palestinians following a deadly 50-day Israeli war in August 2014, Tel Aviv agreed to immediately expand the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast, allowing Palestinian fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles off the shore.

The agreement also stipulated that Israel would expand the area gradually up to 12 miles.

Palestinian fishermen, however, say the Israeli navy opens fire on them before they reach the agreed limit.

Israel had imposed a limit of three nautical miles on fishing in the waters off the Gaza shore until August 2014.

Over the past two years, Israeli forces have carried out about 150 attacks on Palestinian boats, arresting nearly two dozen fishermen and confiscating nine boats.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in the standards of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.

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