One injured in Israeli fire on Palestinian fishermen off Gaza

Israeli naval forces have injured at least one Palestinian fisherman after attacking a number of boats off the northern coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, local media reports say.  

Palestine's official Wafa news agency quoting sources reported that the assault occurred near al-Sudaniya area northwest of Gaza City on Thursday when the fishermen were sailing within six nautical miles from Gaza’s shore.

The injured man was rushed to a nearby hospital to receive necessary medical treatment.

Palestinian fishermen come under Israeli attacks on almost a daily basis and those who get close to the fishing limit get shot or detained by the Israeli navy.

Israel regularly shoots and detains Gazan fishermen over allegations of crossing the "designated fishing zone," which is practically three nautical miles.

Under a ceasefire agreement reached between Israelis and Palestinians following the deadly 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.

Currently there are some 4,000 fishermen in the blockaded coastal land and only hundreds of them fish regularly as they fear being shot or arrested by Israeli naval forces.

Gaza fishermen continue to work under Israeli threats

Israel has once again decreased the fishing limit off the Gaza shore amid an increase in naval attacks against Palestinian fishermen.

The fishing sector has traditionally been the sole source of income for thousands of families across the impoverished coastal region. Some 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza make a living directly or indirectly from fishing.

Israeli attacks have made it nearly impossible for most fishermen to make ends meet.

Statistics show that Gaza’s fishery has sharply declined since 2007 due to Israeli naval attacks and restrictions imposed on the fishing areas.

Experts say the Israeli blockade remains the root cause of hardships affecting every aspect of life in the impoverished coastal enclave.

Israeli forces storm homes, detain Palestinians in West Bank

Separately, Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces detained Palestinian civilians after storming several neighborhoods and villages around the occupied West Bank city of Jenin at dawn on Thursday.

According to local sources, at least one young Palestinians was forcibly taken away after Israeli forces broke into his house in Fahma village, southwest of Jenin city.

Israeli forces injure over 100 Palestinians in West Bank clashes

Israeli forces injure 106 Palestinians during clashes that erupted after the murder of a Palestinian man at the hands of troops in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli forces also assaulted family members, violently searched the building and confiscated surveillance cameras and other precious items.

Israel's undercover agents abducted another Palestinian youth after ransacking his house in Jaba' village southwest of the city. A number of local residents who gathered to confront the Israeli soldiers suffered from exposure to tear gas during clashes in the troubled area.

In Tubas district, Israeli soldiers abducted at least two students from the vicinity of Tayaseer Boys School, east of the city.

Israeli forces also stormed several other parts of the occupied territories where they terrorized citizens, stopped vehicles at the neighborhood’s entrance and searched them.

The circumstances surrounding the kidnappings are yet unknown, but Israeli forces carry out such swoops on a nearly daily basis, taking away Palestinians, whom the regime usually accuses of acting against its so-called interests.

More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly held in Israeli jails. Most of the inmates have apparently been incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention, a policy under which Palestinian inmates are kept in Israeli detention facilities without trial or charge.

Tel Aviv has also been criticized for its extensive use of lethal force against and extrajudicial killing of Palestinians who do not pose an immediate threat to the occupation forces or to Israeli settlers.

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