Israeli forces nab 4 Palestinian fishermen off Gaza coast
Israeli naval forces opened fire on several Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the Gaza Strip and nabbed four fishermen on Friday, Palestinian authorities say.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli forces targeted the Palestinian boats off the shores of the border town of Rafah, Arabic-language Safa news agency reported.
Israeli marines then boarded the boats and nabbed those on board, before seizing all fishing equipment and taking the Palestinian fishermen to an unknown location.
Palestinian sources identified the detainees as 27-year-old Ahmed Omar al-Bardwil, Iyad Omar al-Bardwil as well as Mohammad Jihad Mosleh, 31, and 22-year-old Bilal Jihad Mosleh.
About 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.
On April 3, Israel expanded the Palestinian fishing zone off the southern portion of Gaza’s coast to nine nautical miles from six.
The zone was limited to three nautical miles between 2006 and 2012. Israel imposed a limit of three nautical miles on fishing in the waters off the Gaza shore until August 2014, when Palestinian fishermen were allowed to go out six miles.
Under the Oslo peace accords, the fishing zone is supposed to extend to 20 nautical miles, but it has shrunk over the years as the Tel Aviv regime has imposed greater restrictions.
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 standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.
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